


Starheart

by The_fake_KamalaKhan



Category: Green Lantern - All Media Types, Supergirl (TV 2015), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Christmas Special on Ch. 7, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/F, Friends With Benefits, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kara Danvers Tells Lena Luthor About Being Supergirl, Lena Luthor Finds Out Kara Danvers is Supergirl, Lena Luthor as Green Lantern, Pining, Slow Burn, Temporary Character Death, but she doesn't turn evil, takes place between seasons 2 and 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2020-11-23 20:00:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 55,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20895293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_fake_KamalaKhan/pseuds/The_fake_KamalaKhan
Summary: My name is Lena Luthor. For the past year and a half, I have worked to save my family's company and redeem our name after my brother nearly ran both into the ground. However, my life changed forever when a magic ring from outer space chose me to be its next wielder. I may not be worthy of the ring's power, but I will fight till the bitter end to protect my planet from anyone who would seek to harm it, human or alien.I am the Green Lantern.





	1. Death

**National City**

**April 2017**

In a cozy little elevator within a simple, yet quaint apartment building, Lena Luthor stood alone in a green blouse, black skirt, and heels. Gripping her purse anxiously, Lena tapped her index finger to the back of her hand as she waited for the elevator to finish its climb.

The CEO of L-Corp and scion of the rather infamous Luthor family was usually more composed than this. Yet, here she was, bitting her lip and trying to calm her rapidly beating heart with deep breaths. This unusual anxiety is why she kept her sunglasses on even after entering the building.

Lena was a woman who prided herself in being able to keep her emotions in check. She preferred not to show any perceived weaknesses to others. That's how she survived this long in the cutthroat world of big business. But ever since she met and befriended a certain Catco reporter, that mentality was thrown into wack.

Around Kara Danvers, she felt as if she could let her guard down. She felt safe about confiding in Kara about things that were... difficult to talk about. Things that contradict the stoic and calculating persona she presented to others. The deep stuff, like her feelings about being betrayed by her own family, her frustration in her journey to redeem her family's name, losing Jack...

Lena felt like she could be her true self around Kara Danvers. She was always kind to her and unconditional about the friendship they shared. She listened to what Lena had to say, and she just... cared for her. Kara didn't judge Lena for being a Luthor or tried to use her for her own ends.

She was just... Kara. Her best friend, who showed her that it was okay to feel things. Who introduced her to people who would become her friends. Someone she loved with all her heart.

Love...

That was something Lena hadn't felt in a long time.

She had always distanced herself from that concept. For the longest time, Lena thought that romance was a distraction, a waste of time. The few times that Lena tried to indulge in such relationships never... ended well.

Lena closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She pushed those painful memories down as she thought to herself, "But Kara is different, and... so am I. Maybe things won't go wrong this time. Maybe... I can love again. I want to... more than everything."

The door finally opened, and Lena stepped out of the elevator to walk towards Kara's apartment.

It's been a few weeks since the Daxamites invaded. Everyone in National City was reeling from that horrible invasion. Lena and Kara most of all.

Lena was betrayed yet again by someone she trusted and respected. And Kara... she lost the love of her life when the atmospheric dispersal device, a device Lena herself adapted from her evil brother, Lex, was used to stop the Daxamites, which forced Supergirl to send him away for his own good. It was a miracle that Kara could even stand to look at Lena for her role in Mon-El's departure.

"I wouldn't if I were her," she thought.

Ever since that day, Kara made herself scarce. She's been blowing off work, she barely talks to anyone anymore, even to her closest friends, and the few times Lena has seen Kara, she was... distant and withdrawn, a stark contrast to the kind and passionate girl she fell in love with.

Lena could tell that Kara was in so much pain after Mon-El left, and she couldn't help but think that part of that was her fault. She was the one who allowed Supergirl to activate the device, after all. It had to be done to save the Earth, but that didn't make Lena feel any better.

"I have to make it up to her," Lena thought as she stood in front of Kara's door, "I want to make her feel better. Help her the same way she helped me. We could do lunch or just hang out or... something. I want to do this, but... I can't help but feel that I'm just exploiting Kara for my own selfish reasons. I want to be with her, but with Mon-El gone... do I even have the right to ask? No... those questions are for a later date when Kara... feels better. For now, I'm just asking my friend to have lunch with me. We've done this a million times. I just want to cheer her up. Just... control yourself, Lena. Control yourself."

Lena took a deep breath and brought back her more controlled expression. She removed her glasses, and she motioned to ring Kara's doorbell. However, before her finger pressed the button, the door suddenly opened to reveal Kara about to walk through it.

She almost bumped into Lena. Kara's eyes widened in surprise as she said, "Oh... Lena. I... I was about to come over to your place. I... what are you doing here?"

"I just... wanted to see you," Lena said forcing a smile, "I wanted to ask you out to lunch. _As friends_," she said mentally chastising herself for almost making this sound romantic, "It's been a while since we just hung out together, and... I wanted to do something for you. After everything that happened... I owe you at least that much."

"You're very sweet Lena. Thank you," Kara said making a small smile that melted Lena's cold, logical heart, "But I'm not feeling like doing lunch today. Sorry."

Lena sighed and nods in understanding. "I see... sorry for interrupting then..."

She turned to leave, but then Kara stopped her. She continued, "But I do have something to tell you, though. Something important. Can you... can you stay for a while?"

Lena looked at her beautiful blue eyes and nodded. "Sure..."

She followed Kara inside her quaint little home. As the reporter the closed the door behind them, Kara let out a big sigh as walked into her living room. She had her back turned on Lena, but the latter could tell something is eating at Kara. She could feel it.

Feeling a little scared, Lena asked, "What's this about, Kara? Is it... is it about Mon-El?"

"No, it's not. It's...", Kara sighed, "It's about you and me. Us."

"Us?"

"I've been keeping a secret from you, Lena. A really big secret. It's something that I should've told you... long before now."

"It's okay, Kara. You can tell me anything. That's what friends are for, right?"

"Friends... you might feel different after I... tell you about my secret," Kara spoke somberly thinking about what Lena's stepmother, Lillian, said to her during the Daxamite invasion, "I'll understand if you hate me after I tell you. It's just... I can't lie to you anymore, Lena. Not about this."

"Kara, you... you're starting to scare me," Lena said her voice faltering, "What could you possibly say that could make me hate you?"

Kara didn't answer. She was silent for a few moments as she removed her glasses and began unbuttoning her blouse. She turned around, and Lena's jaw dropped when she saw a familiar looking S shield on a blue and red uniform.

Kara simply told Lena, "I'm Supergirl."

Lena just stood there in shock for a minute. She felt her entire world flip upside down in a manner of seconds as her brilliant mind struggled to comprehend the revelation that was suddenly thrusted upon her.

At that moment, Lena could only say, "Oh..."

* * *

**Frontier Space**

**Two Months Later**

Flying across this cold and indifferent universe was a highly advanced spaceship painted a bright silver and green. The graceful ship reached speeds faster than light as it graced the void in a brilliant green energy trail. Within the bridge of the ship were four humanoid figures.

One was normal enough looking human woman with brown skin and light brown hair. She had a strange looking green tattoo over her left eye in the shape of a lantern, and she wore a green and black uniform with the same logo over her chest along with white gloves and a green ring that also bore the lantern symbol.

The other was a human man with brown skin and wore a short sleeved version of the woman's green and black uniform, which showed off a tattoo on his wrist of Arabic letters which read "courage" when translated to English. Instead of white gloves, the man wore matching fingerless gloves and a black and green cowl covering the top half of his face. He also wore a nearly identical green ring to the woman's on his finger.

The third figure was a tall, gray skinned alien with big muscles, red eyes, and a pair of tusks jutting from his lower jaw. He also wore a green ring along with a more armored version of the green uniform.

The last figure was a synthetic person with bright, luminescent green skin and blue eyes. She wore a white helmet and white armor that left her thighs, midriff, and biceps exposed. Her hands have a rounded, robotic shape to them, and they have bright green orbs on the back and smaller green circles on the palms. There was also an opening to her green skin on her chestplate, which was emblazoned with same lantern sigil as in the other three's uniforms.

The synthetic woman was at the pilot's seat with her cold, emotionless eyes set straight into the void, while the other three sat around the floor playing a game of cards. The atmosphere around those three are tense as they reached the epic conclusion of their game.

The three were shifting their eyes at each other as the cowled man said, "Alright, guys. The moment of truth," he then set down his hand of three cards on the table, which had numbers on them that added to... "20."

The big alien man smirked and said, "That all you got, poozer? 23."

The man in the cowl frowned as he said, "Damn it!", he turned to the woman and asked her, "It's all down to you, Jessica. You got this."

The big alien scoffed. "It's gonna take a miracle to beat me now, Simon."

"Let the lady play, Kilowog. She might surprise you yet," Simon said before turning back to Jessica and asking, "Are you?"

Jessica furrowed her brow and said, "I'm... not sure. I got a two, a three..."

"That's it?", Kilowog laughed, "You might as well give me my prize now!"

"But there's also this weird face card with some symbol on it," Jessica said putting down her hand. The two men looked at those cards with stunned looks in their eyes.

"No... fucking... way...", Simon said staring at Jess' cards.

"The Idiot's Array...", Kilowog muttered.

"There's no need for name calling," Jessica said glaring at the alien, "If I had a bad hand, then..."

"Actually, Jessica, you just won the game," Simon said smiling before presenting a plastic box over to her, "Congratulations."

"Wait, I won? I won?!", Jessica said grabbing the box out of Simon's hands, "This is my precious now! Haha!"

Kilowog rolled his eyes. "Don't get a swelled head over it, rookie. It's beginner's luck. Nothing more."

"Don't be such a downer, Kilowog," Simon told him, "A win's a win. And to the victor goes the spoils."

Jessica tore open the wrapper over the lid with zeal. Licking her lips, she stared down to see a bunch of fried eyeballs glazed in some kind of dark brown sauce.

"There goes the last box of glazed trihog eyes," Kilowog groaned, "I'm starving just looking at it. I'm hitting the pantry. Hopefully we still have some salted grubs left."

As Kilowog stomped his way out of the table, Jessica began polishing off the trihog eyes one by one like chips, moaning with satisfaction with every taste. She then looked over to Simon and smiled at him.

Jessica offered him an eyeball, but Simon shook his head and said, "I'm pretty sure trihog isn't halal. I'm good."

Jessica looked at Simon puzzled and swallowed. She asked, "Why were you playing for these if you weren't going to eat them?"

"Honestly? I have a gambling problem," Simon joked, "I was gonna give these away to Aya if I won."

Jessica looked over to robot woman, who was still tending to the ship's needs on the pilot's seat like a loyal drone.

She squinted at Aya and said, "I don't think she eats."

"She doesn't have to, but she does. I saw her scarf down a fried dinosaur leg in Rann once. Including the bone."

"Seriously?", Jessica said raising a brow at Aya.

Simon nodded. "Apparently she's techno-organic and can convert food into green energy."

"That's weird."

"Well, I think it's pretty nifty," Simon said before standing up, "I'm gonna head to the engine room. I think it's about time I do a diagnostic."

Jessica stood up too and said, "I'll help."

Simon held out his hand and said, "This is more of a one-man job. I'm good. I need you to do something for me anyway."

"Okay. What?"

"Get the new girl out of that seat," Simon said nudging his head toward Aya, "She's been all business ever since the Guardians assigned her to our unit. She needs to learn how to loosen up, and as the old new girl, it's up to you to do that."

"Aya's a robot. I'm pretty sure she's incapable of fun. Or emotions for that matter."

"If that were true, she wouldn't be a Green Lantern," Simon patted Jessica in the shoulder before turning to leave, "You have your orders, Jess. Get to it."

Jessica scoffed and called out, "We have the same rank, Si!"

"But I have seniority!", Simon said in a singsong manner before leaving the bridge.

Jessica rolled her eyes before looking back at Aya. Sighing, Jess walked over to her seat and placed her box of trihog eyes on Aya's console.

In a matter-of-fact manner, Aya told Jessica, "Protocols prohibit food near any of the bridge computers or consoles. Please remove the carton before it spills, Green Lantern Cruz."

"Don't be like that. I wanted to do something nice," Jess said as she grabbed the carton and held it over Aya's almost unresponsive face, "Want one? It's pretty good."

"My power reserves are at optimum levels. Please remove this spill hazard from my person, Green Lantern Cruz."

Jessica groaned as she pulled back her carton and started snacking on eyeballs by herself. She told Aya, "It's been almost a month since you joined us. You can just call me 'Jessica' or 'Jess'."

"I am well aware, Green Lantern Cruz."

"As stiff as a board this one," Jessica spoke irately from under her breath. She then said aloud, "Simon told me to help you loosen up. I think he wants you to feel welcomed in the team."

"I am acclimating well enough to my new environment, Green Lantern Cruz. In case you are not aware, both you and Green Lantern Baz both hold the rank of sergeant in the Corps. He has no authority to give you orders."

"I know that, but he's right in saying that you need to wind down a bit. If you have emotions like he said you do, then you need to set aside some free time. All work and no play makes you a dull girl, after all."

"Quote. Earth film. The Shining. 1980," Aya hummed robotically before saying, "I was designed not to feel fatigue like you and your fellow organic beings. I can operate for hours at a time as long as I maintain optimal power levels. 'Free time' is not necessary for me. 'A waste of time', as you might say."

"Be that as it may, I'm your teammate and it's my job to get to know you better."

"You may browse my file if you wish more information..."

Jessica inhaled sharply. "Okay, that's it. Report to the lounge. Now."

Aya turned to Jessica with a look of protest in her blank face. "But the Guardians entrusted our unit to transport an item critical to our war effort to Naltor. We are still at least five hundred lightyears away from..."

"That's an order Aya. Simon may not outrank me, but I outrank you. As your superior officer, I order you to spend time with me. Move it," Jessica said firmly.

Aya glared at Jessica for a second before turning to her console and saying, "Sigh," the robot Lantern then set the ship on autopilot and stood up from her seat. She asked Jessica, "What shall we do with this intrusive, unnecessary, and mandatory free time, Green Lantern Cruz."

"Well, for starters, you're not gonna take that tone with me. And second...", Jessica then relaxed her expression and asked, "You in the mood for a drink?"

* * *

At the lounge, the two female Lanterns were sitting at the bar. Jessica had a bottle of beer in her hand, while Aya had a more... interesting drink.

A black and white milkshake with whipped cream and cherry on top.

Aya plucked the cherry from the cream and swallowed it whole. She then proceeded to drain her frozen drink at a steady rate that would've paralyzed most humans for life due to brain freeze.

Jessica looked at her astonished as she sipped her beer and said, "Okay. So you like milkshakes. That's one thing I know about you. Progress."

By the time Jess finished that sentence, Aya was done with her drink. She set her chalice aside before using her green light to telekinetically open the freezer at the back of the bar and grab another milkshake.

Aya explained, "The drink you designate as a 'milkshake' is high in calories and is good source of energy."

"But you like the taste, right?"

Aya nodded. "I find it... pleasurable."

As Aya sipped down her second milkshake, Jessica let out a small smile and said, "I guess you're not as dead on the inside as I thought."

Aya finished her drink and got another one from the freezer. "Contrary to popular belief, I do have emotions. They're just not as intense as you organic beings."

"Hey, no judgment here, sister."

"We are not blood related," Aya pointed out.

"It's just an Earth expression when referring to fellow women," Jessica shrugged, "Don't think too hard about it."

"Interesting," Aya hummed before asking, "So what do wish to know about me?"

"I don't know," she said rubbing the back of her head, "What about... we're you from?"

"Unknown."

"Seriously?", Jessica raised her brow.

"The Guardians found me in Maltus approximately one year, two months, ten days, and two hours before now. They saw that I could harness the green light of willpower without a power ring, so they reprogrammed me to become a Green Lantern."

"So the Guardians... brainwashed you?", Jessica asked a little horrified, "They forced you to become a Green Lantern?"

"In a manner of saying," Aya nodded nonchalantly.

"And you see no problem with that?"

"It was either that or my termination or leaving me to be discovered by less... savory groups. It was the most logical decision."

"Logic, huh?", Jessica said taking another sip and saying under her breath, "You can give Spock a run for his money. Damn."

After finishing her fifth milkshake, Aya asked Jessica, "Now that I have shared my personal information, I believe that entitles me to some of yours. As you humans say, 'tit for tat'."

Jessica sighed. "You wanna know where I'm from?"

"Earth. In a city called Portland," Aya said, "It was in your file."

"My file, huh? That's not creepy at all," Jessica muttered before asking, "What do you want to know?"

"Why did your ring choose you?"

"The same reason why everyone else in the Corps is chosen. The ring sensed that I can overcome great fear," Jessica said shrugging.

"But out of all the seven billion humans on your planet, why did the ring choose you, specifically?", Aya pressed.

Jessica began to feel nervous. "I... isn't that in my file?"

"The Guardians classified that information. All I know is that your ring had to resuscitate you when it chose you. Now, I ask again. Why did your ring choose you?"

Jessica started to feel herself shake. Memories began flooding inside her mind. Bad memories. Memories of a camping trip gone horribly wrong. Memories of being a prisoner inside her own body. Of being forced to do so many terrible things. Things that bring her immense shame even to this day.

Jessica noticed that she was hyperventilating. Thankfully, she was able to collect herself for a moment and close her eyes. She calmed her breath through breathing exercises, and her ring started to glow a bright green. After a few seconds, Jessica began to breathe calmly and opened her eyes again.

Something resembling guilt was etched into Aya's robotic face as she said, "I see that my questioning has caused you great distress. I apologize, Green Lantern Cruz."

Jessica sighed. "I'm fine, Aya. Really, I am. You just... caught me off guard. How about we... talk about something else?"

Aya stared at Jessica for a moment. She began to open her mouth, but then...

BOOM!

All of a sudden, the entire ship shook like it's in the middle of an earthquake. Jessica and Aya were thrown around as the lights above them flickered on and off.

When the shaking stopped, Jessica shouted, "What the hell was that?!"

Jessica felt a notification blaring in her ring. She held it up to her face as Kilowog began speaking through it.

_"Cruz, Aya. We're under attack! The Sinestro Corps ambushed us! They must be after the package!"_

"What?!", Jessica shouted alarmed, "How did they even know we were transporting it?"

_"I don't know, and right now, I don't care! We have to stop them from reaching it! Simon and I are holding off a squadron of Yellow Lantern poozers at the front, but my ring detected three reprogrammed Manhunters trying to sneak into the back! We need you and Aya to fight them off. Now!"_

"Understood, Captain. We're on our way," Jessica ended the call and turned to Aya, "You heard the man."

"Perhaps this situation could be avoided in the first place if you allowed me to..."

"Save the 'I told you so' until after we beat back the Manhunters. We need to go. Now!", Jessica said as she ran towards the nearest airlock with Aya trailing right behind her.

* * *

Flying out the back of their ship, Green Lanterns Aya and Jessica Cruz spotted a trio of Manhunter robots flying towards them wielding their power staves.

"Manhunters detected," Aya told Jessica, "They have been refitted to wield the yellow light of fear. I recommend we exercise caution, Green Lantern Cruz."

"Tell me something I don't know. But when it comes to Manhunters, I find it best to go in hard and lay down the heat," Jessica said as she used her ring to summon a fighter jet construct, "Watch this, rookie!"

Jessica then slowed down a swung her ring hand forward, which made the jet construct fire up and race towards the three Manhunters. It crashed into the nearest Manhunter and blew up, consuming all three in a cloud of green fire.

Aya and Jessica stopped. The latter turned to Aya with a smirk and said, "See?"

However, three figures flew out of the smoke to reveal that all three Manhunters survived the explosion. The middle Manhunter, who was the one who crashed into the jet and thus had chunks of its plating seared off, chanted robotically, _"No man escapes the Manhunters."_

"Okay, that's annoying," Jessica said grimacing. She looked at Aya and asked, "Ready for this, kid?"

Aya's eyes and the orbs in her hands glowed a bright green as she said, "Executing combat protocols."

Jessica nodded, "Ready? Break!"

With that, Aya and Jessica charged at the three Manhunters in the vacuum of space. Aya summoned three torpedo constructs and flew them at the Manhunters. The robots dispersed with cold efficiency as they narrowly avoided the exploding torpedoes through well timed evasive maneuvers. However, in the process, the group was split apart from each other with one Manhunters in the far right of the ship and the other two on the left. This allowed the two Lanterns to divide and conquer as Jessica went after the two the left and Aya flew at the one on the right.

Jessica flew at her targets, who floated in position and aimed their power staves at her. They fired a barrage of yellow energy blasts at Jessica, but the Lantern summoned shield construct in her right hand to block any incoming shots. She eventually reached one of the Manhunters, the visibly damaged one, and she charged at it with her shield. The Manhunter slammed its staff against the shield, but Jessica summoned a sword construct in her left hand to thrust it at the opening in the robot's armor. Her blade sliced through the Manhunter's power core, causing the robot's yellow eyes to die out as it shuts down.

Jessica removed her sword with a grunt as the Manhunter she killed floated lifelessly in space. While Jessica was distracted, however, the other Manhunter took shot at Jessica. The blast grazed Jessica's arm, causing her to curse under her breath, before turning around and blocking the oncoming volley with her shield.

Jessica let her sword construct disappear before she summoned a giant boulder construct. Jessica threw the boulder at the Manhunter, which forced it to stop firing and dodge. However, that was just a distraction.

While the Manhunter flew to the side to avoid the boulder, Jessica Cruz flew at the robot as quickly as she could with a giant, two-handed sword.

"Gotcha!", Jessica shouted before swinging massive blade across the Manhunter's chest, slicing open a big chunk of plate and exposing the more vulnerable inner circuitry. Jessica then replaced her sword with a laser rifle and fired into the wound she made. The laser bolt tore a hole into the Manhunter's back as an exit wound, spilling metal bits into the void. As the lights in the Manhunter's eyes died, Jessica pumped her laser rifle (more for flair than for practicality) and said, "Looks like I just blew my load all over your insides... shit, that sounds lame. Stupid Jessica! Stupid!"

Meanwhile, Aya began charging green energy all over her body, building up a brilliant green aura, as she charged at the last Manhunter. The evil robot attempt to blast Aya away, but the Lantern swiftly dodged each and every blast with the grace of a professional swimmer. Eventually, Aya sped up her charge as her boot jets fired even harder to slam into the Manhunter's chest with her fists. The energy Aya had been charging up allowed her to greatly augment her strength and punch a hole inside the Manhunter before her entire body penetrated through the Manhunter and exited out the back.

Aya turned around to see that her Manhunter, a well as Jessica's, were destroyed. She saw Jessica smiling at her and giving her a thumbs up, but Aya ignored her as she spotted a yellow light entering her ship.

She spoke to Jessica via her internal communicator. "Green Lantern Cruz, a Yellow Lantern has infiltrated the ship while we were distracted. Assist me as I try to intercept them!"

"Got your back, rookie!", Jessica said before following her comrade. As they flew closer to the ship, however, Jessica spotted three more Manhunters flying over to intercept them. Jessica grunted in annoyance as she told Aya, "I'll hold them off! Just make sure the Sinestro Corps don't make off with the package!"

"Acknowledged!", Aya said as she sped towards the ship while Jessica broke off to charge at the Manhunters.

* * *

Once back in the ship, Aya walked down from the lounge to the foot of the cargo bay. The robot Lantern had her hands up, the blasters built into them lighting up and primed to fire, as the door to the storage unit opened up.

Stepping inside the cargo bay, Aya saw the Yellow Lantern, a woman with a purple ponytail, pointed ears, and wearing a set of yellow and black armor. She told her, "By the authority of the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of the Universe, I'm placing you under arrest. Stand down, or I will be forced to take action against you."

The woman held up her hands and slowly turned to face Aya with a cocky smirk. However, Aya's emotionless facade broke as she looked at the Yellow Lantern's familiar blue eyes in shock.

Aya meekly called out, "Drusa?"

Drusa noticed Aya's distracted expression, and she used this opening to thrust her fist forward and shoot a yellow energy blast at the robot. The blast hit Aya square in the chest, which sent her flying through the opened door. Once Aya was laid out outside, Drusa summoned a yellow hand construct to shut the door and lock it.

"Stupid machine," she scoffed before walking over to one of the crates in the room. It was made out of Nth metal with the Green Lantern logo painted on the front. The crate was locked through a keypad, but Drusa pulled out a special tablet and ran a hacking program. Once the program claimed the crate's passcode, the tablet sent out a signal that unlocked the crate. Setting aside the tablet, Drusa opened the lid to find a glowing green lantern sitting inside it. With a greedy smile, the Yellow Lantern picked up the luminescent artifact as she said to herself, "With this power, we shall restore order to this chaotic universe."

Drusa was about to leave when the lantern in her hands actually spoke out to her. In a deep, booming voice, the lantern spoke, _"Three times shall I flame green..."_

"What in oblivion?!", Drusa shouted spooked as the fire within the lantern glowed bright enough to burn her very soul.

_"First, to bring death!"_

With that proclamation, the lantern exploded in a fiery green explosion. Drusa screamed as she was thrown into the ground with green fire starting to consume her body and eat away at her pale skin. While the Yellow Lantern burned, the green lantern remained intact as it started fly through the cargo bay doors.

By that time, Aya got up to see the lantern literally break through the metal door like it was made of paper mache. It then proceeded to do the same to any wall on its way before busting out of the ship completely and flying out into the vacuum of space. Aya looked on at this wondrous sight with shock as she watched the green light disappear into the distance.

"This is... problematic."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are... done! A lovely first chapter if I do say so myself.
> 
> I know this idea of Lena becoming a Green Lantern is a rather popular one in the Supergirl fandom, but I wanna put my own spin to it in that I'm not gonna make Lena use a Corps ring. Rather, she will get the more mystical Starheart ring similar to Alan Scott's, AKA the first Green Lantern. While the Green Lantern Corps will be involved here, the main character won't really be a member of that organization. She'll have to deal with the unique lore of the Starheart with some help from the space Lanterns.
> 
> And yes, Alan Scott existed in this world. He actually wielded the Starheart ring before Lena as Green Lantern. I won't say more than that for now.
> 
> That's really it for notes. Sorry GL Lena wasn't here in the first chapter, but at least I set the motions to it. She should encounter the Starheart by the next chapter, and at the latest, she will actually have the ring by the third chapter. She'll hopefully properly debut as Green Lantern in chapter three or four.
> 
> But for now, thanks for the read, I hope you've enjoyed yourself, and have a nice day!


	2. Life

**Oa**

**One Day Later**

"This is unacceptable!", a grumpy blue dwarf in white and red robes shouted from his pedestal. The balding blue alien was accompanied by eight more of his fellow Guardians around the circular platform that they were standing on. Below them stood Green Lanterns Kilowog, Simon Baz, Jessica Cruz, and Aya, who stood there as the angry bald Guardian continued shouting at them. "We have charged your unit with transporting the Starheart! A mystical artifact, whose power could help us win this cursed war with the Sinestro Corps! We trusted your unit to deliver this weapon to safety to our allies in Naltor, but now because of your incompetence, the Starheart is now lost to us! What do you have to say for yourself, Captain Kilowog?"

Kilowog contained his irritation by putting up an aura of professionalism as he said, "This is unfortunate. But with all due respect, the Sinestro Corps found out that our ship was carrying the Starheart. Our mission was supposed to be top secret, but the enemy was still able to track us down and ambush us. There had to be a security leak from within the Corps. Don't you think we should..."

"I am not in the mood for excuses, Honor Guard Captain Kilowog!", the angry Guardian interrupted.

"Oh great, Appa is in one of his moods," Simon whispered as the Guardian continued to chastise his superior officer.

"You can tell?", Jessica whispered back, "I don't think I've seen Appa without him yelling at someone. You sure he's not a Red Lantern?"

Simon let out quiet chuckle.

Aya told them softly, "I don't think it is appropriate for Green Lanterns to speak ill of any of the Guardians of the Universe."

"Relax, Seven of Nine, we mean nothing by it," Simon said holding back a laugh, "We have nothing but respect for the all-knowing Smurfs."

"That's a reference to an old Earth cartoon in case you don't know," Jessica told Aya.

"I gathered," Aya then looked ahead at her bosses with the utmost obedience, "Just stay silent for the rest of the debriefing. Don't speak unless spoken to."

"Roger that, girl scout," Simon said scoffing.

After Appa laid into Green Lantern Kilowog, another, less angry, Guardian then spoke up, "Our dear captain does make an interesting point, Appa. The only way the Sinestro Corps could find out about this mission was if someone from within our organization informed them. Shouldn't finding the source of the leak be a top priority?"

"I suppose... you have a point, Ganthet," Appa Ali Apsa reluctantly admitted.

A female Guardian then spoke up, "I shall make the arrangements to investigate this sensitive matter then."

"Make sure you are discreet about it, Sayd," Ganthet told her.

"And only assign Lanterns that you can absolutely trust," Appa then glared at Aya and said, "Speaking of trust, we have reviewed the security log of your now ruined ship, Green Lanterns. Even I must admit that each one of you performed... adequately in the line of duty. Save for one," he then played a video of Aya's brief encounter with Yellow Lantern Drusa, "Honor Guard Corporal Aya, care to explain your part in allowing the Starheart to slip away from under your watch?!"

All eyes were on Aya, who was actually taken aback despite projecting her usual stoic persona, as she said, "I got... distracted."

"Distracted?", Appa scoffed, "We rebuilt you to be our most powerful weapon! How could you get distracted by one of the enemies you were programmed to destroy?!"

"I... I...", Aya stuttered unsure of what to say.

Jessica spoke up in her defense, "Hey! This isn't Aya's fault! She helped us fight off the ambush that _you _didn't see coming!"

"Watch your tone, Honor Guard Sergeant Cruz," Appa warned.

Sayd suggested, "Perhaps there was something wrong with Honor Guard Corporal Aya's programming. Perhaps we should run an update on her software..."

"Or we ought wipe her entire drive and rebuild from scratch! And better this time!", Appa growled.

"That's a little extreme, don't you think, Appa?", Ganthet said before returning to Aya, "Report to the science wing, Corporal. Reza should be able to detect what's wrong with your programming."

Aya nodded albeit shakily. "Acknowledged."

She then turned to leave the chamber. Jessica whispered to her, "You okay?"

Aya paused for a minute before answering, "No. No, I'm not."

She then left the chamber to allow her organic compatriots to continue their debriefing without her.

* * *

At the science wing of the Guardians' Citadel, Aya sat in the equivalent to a patient's bed as a female Guardian with wild, matted hair and a pair of cartoonishly large round glasses hooked the Green Lantern robot up to a computer.

Aya felt anxious, which she didn't even know was possible, as she asked, "Did you detect what's... wrong with me, Guardian Reza?"

With her eyes still on her computer, Reza spoke, "How many times do I have to tell you, Aya? I've known you since you were first activated. Please, just call me mom."

"Mom...", Aya said feeling a little warm about addressing this strange blue creature that way, "Did you... find what's wrong with me?"

Reza hummed idly for a minute before turning to Aya. "Well kid, as far as the software goes, nothing's wrong with you. It's not faulty programming that made you freeze like that on the field."

"But then why did I hesitate when I faced that Yellow Lantern?", Aya said letting her worry overcome her robotic persona, "I shouldn't have delayed in trying to apprehend her. What's wrong with me?"

"Hmm...", Reza hummed before taking a seat next to the robot she adopted, "What the others would like to forget is that you are not just a machine. You're a living being with emotions. Perhaps your problem isn't a technical one but rather an emotional one."

"But I am a construct made out of metal and wires bound by green energy and software. I shouldn't have any emotions that could disrupt my performance as a Green Lantern."

"My dear, you are far more than just a robot," Reza said with a maternal tone, "You are alive. You are no more a construct made of metal than I am a construct made of blue, wrinkly flesh. I knew that since the moment I first woke you up. You shouldn't feel any more different from the next girl just because you're not purely organic, and you certainly shouldn't feel ashamed of your own emotions."

"But the mission failed, because I couldn't control my emotions..."

"Aya, emotions may not be perfect, but they make us who we are. And you've been so busy since the others placed you in the Honor Guard so quickly after you were formally inducted into the Corps. Perhaps they expected too much from you too soon. Maybe that's why you froze up the way you did. After all, it is the first time you've face a Yellow Lantern. It couldn't been easy facing someone who could project your worst fears."

"Perhaps...", Aya said as she thought about Drusa's face and the... difficult emotions that caused, "Or maybe Guardian Appa was right. Perhaps it is best if we do a full systems wipe..."

"Aya...", Reza said as she placed her tiny hands on Aya's cheeks to make the robot look at her in the eyes, "I will never let that happen. Even should the entire council vote in favor of a systems wipe, I refuse to let you essentially kill yourself, especially over a tiny mistake. You're more than just a weapon for the Guardians. You're a person, and you have the right to live with your emotions just like the rest of us."

Aya looked at Reza's determined and loving eyes and relented. "If you think that is best..."

Reza let out a small smile as she said, "You'll have plenty of time to cope with these new emotions. You just have to be patient, Aya."

"I understand," she said meekly, "And thank you... mother."

"You can talk with me about these things any time," Reza said patting Aya in the back.

It was then that Jessica Cruz entered Reza's lab with a grim look on her face.

Aya resumed her stoic persona as Reza said to Jessica, "Green Lantern Cruz, excellent timing. I just finished examining Aya here, and I'm happy to report that nothing is wrong with her. She is more than fit enough to rejoin your unit."

"About that...", Jessica started hesitantly as she looked at Aya, "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

Aya looked at her fellow Lantern and spoke with a calm voice that betrayed the dread she was feeling, "What is it, Green Lantern Cruz?"

Jessica sighed. "I'm afraid you'll no longer be a member of our unit."

Aya's face was warped with shock as she whimpered, "What?"

Feeling immense guilt, Jessica continued, "We tried to fight this, but... Appa managed to convince the Council to remove you from the Honor Guard. I'm sorry."

Aya felt her very soul break in two as she slumped into her seat in shock. Reza looked at her surrogate daughter with sympathy present in her gentle eyes as tried to comfort Aya by placing her arm over the robot's shoulder.

Aya eventually responded while trying her hardest to suppress her feelings of betrayal and inadequacy. "I... I understand."

Wincing, Jessica spoke up, "It's not the end of the universe, Aya. You're still a part of the Corps. Kilowog and Ganthet convinced most of the Council to transfer you to sector duty. You'll be assigned to my sector in fact- 2814. If you perform well enough, maybe the Guardians will welcome you back to the Honor Guard. I'll help you. They assigned me as your partner after all."

"I... appreciate your help, but... I need to be alone right now. I have to compartmentalize this new... information," Aya said her voice began cracking. She unplugged herself from the computer and began walking out the room.

Before she did, Jessica told Aya, "For what it's worth, I don't blame you for freezing up like that on the field. It's a difficult job, and I don't know what you've been through. Just don't be too hard on yourself, okay? You have all the time in the universe to improve yourself as a Lantern."

Aya stopped at the door and dispassionately replied, "If you say so."

Despite Aya's robotic nature, Jessica noticed the self-loathing in Aya's body language. Her lack of self-confidence was... plainly present. It was a feeling Jessica knew all too well.

"I know you don't want to talk about it now, but know that I'll listen to what you have to say whenever you need it," Jessica spoke softly, "We're partners now, so if you want to talk about what happened, I'll be happy to listen."

Aya's mind flashed with memories when she thought of Drusa again. Memories of being at that cruel woman's mercy. Aya couldn't remember much about her past before the Guardians found her, but if her encounter with Drusa was anything to go by, it was the kind of past that the android wasn't sure that she would even want to remember.

"Lantern Cruz, I...", Aya started to say. She wanted to talk about her feelings. Her disappointment about being kicked out of the Honor Guard. Her insecurities about her own synthetic nature. And the fear she had been feeling whenever she thought of Drusa's face even though that woman is dead.

But she can't.

It was just too much for Aya to deal with right now. And so, Aya simply left with room without another word, leaving Jessica and Reza to look on with worry.

* * *

**National City**

Lena Luthor woke up early and naked in her bed.

Correction. Lena Luthor woke up early and naked in _Kara's _bed.

Lena yawned as her eyes painfully adjusted to the morning light. Memories of needy kisses, the sensual removal of clothes, and casual, but oh so pleasurable lovemaking began pouring into the young genius' head.

Sprawled around on the left side of the bed with only a messy blanket to keep her modest, Lena looked around to see Kara already in her Supergirl uniform. She had her back turned on Lena as she talked to someone on her phone.

"I get that you're shorthanded, but I already told you. I'm not going back to the Tower," there was a brief pause before Kara scowled and continued, "No, this is not about Mon-El. How do you even know... you know what, nevermind. Even if what happened a couple months ago didn't happen, I still wouldn't go back. Too many memories... you of all people should understand that," another pause, "I'm sorry, but you can't change my mind. Please respect that," Kara sighed, "I need to patrol. Goodbye."

Kara then hung up. She began walking towards the balcony to fly out of her apartment, but she was then stopped by Lena's voice.

"Going somewhere?", Lena said in a teasing tone.

Kara cursed under her breath before turning around and forcing a smile. "Going out on patrol. Crime never takes a break and neither do I."

"Perhaps you should start," Lena said before asking, "Who were you talking to on the phone?"

Kara's face curled up with discomfort as she said, "An ex... from Jump City."

"Does this ex happen to be a member of those Titans you occasionally hang out with?", Lena remarked.

"You know about that?"

"I read it in the tabloids once. So... should I be worried about him?"

"Her," Kara corrected, "And no. It's ancient history now. Also, we're not exactly together either, Lena."

"Right," Lena replied sarcastically, "We just kiss, go out on dates, and have sex. Nothing romantic at all."

"It's just a bit of fun. We both agreed that it's all this is," Kara pointed out.

Lena sighed wistfully. "I know. I know..."

When Kara first told her about being Supergirl, Lena didn't know what to think. The friend that she trusted and loved for over the past year turned out to be lying to her this entire time. Kara kept the fact that she was a Kryptonian and Superman's cousin for months. At first, Lena was furious with Kara.

"How could she keep something like this from me? Was she just using our friendship to spy on me? Was anything we shared real?"

But after some time alone to think about it, Lena calmed down. She took the time to think through all the times she spent with both Kara and Supergirl, and Lena realized that all Kara Zor-El ever wanted to do is protect her. While her line of thinking was faulty, Lena understood that Kara just wanted to distance her from all the danger Supergirl had to go through on a daily basis. Although Lena didn't appreciate being lied to, at least it was Kara herself who revealed her own secret. If she was really being duplicitous, then Kara wouldn't even reveal her secret identity to her to begin with.

While things between the two friends were awkward for a bit, Lena did manage to forgive Kara for her deception in time. Things between the two will never be the same after that revelation, but at least there aren't any more lies between them. However, Lena couldn't help but think that there was an ulterior motive to why Kara revealed herself to her the way she did.

Perhaps Lena had been overthinking this, but she had an aching suspicion as to why Kara felt so unusually open that day. It's as if Kara wanted Lena to give up on her. To drive her away, so that she could concentrate on just being Supergirl. Lena hoped that her friend wasn't this far gone into her grief, but she can't help but think this to be true. That was the reason why she proposed this little arrangement to begin with.

Well, it wasn't the only reason. Lena had been dreaming for a while now about taking her strong and beautiful friend to bed. But her primary reason for maintaining this now was to keep Kara grounded. She feared what would happen should Kara abandon all that made her human, so Lena doubled her efforts to try to reach her.

A friends with benefits arrangement wasn't exactly what Lena had planned, but it was the only thing that worked after a month of prodding. Despite her desire to be less human, Kara was still a young woman with hormones. Losing Mon-El left a hole in Kara's heart that she desperately wanted to cover over. Lena subtly offered to fill the void and... here we are.

"You sure we can't go for a quick breakfast at Finger's Cafe?"

"I already ate," Kara said before walking off, "I really have to go, Lena. Sorry."

"Kara wait...", Lena said as Kara flew out of her apartment through the balcony. She slumped down in the bed defeated. Lena wanted to think that being there for Kara like this is helping her cope with her loss. However, her attitude hasn't improved even a bit since they started this.

Lena was starting to wonder if the girl she fell in love with was gone forever, and that there is nothing she could do to make this right.

* * *

After Lena left Kara's apartment, she called one of her drivers to pick her up and drop her back at her own place. After dressing up in business casual, Lena left her penthouse in a limo to drive to downtown.

Traffic had been rather light that day, which Lena appreciated. She didn't really want to be alone with her troubled thoughts for long. She'd rather have a meeting with her board of sycophants and entitled bastards than think about how much it hurts to see Kara in pain. Thankfully, this meeting should be a step above the usual monotony of corporate politics.

Anthony Ivo of Ivo Laboratories recently invited Lena over to his new offices in National City. Apparently, he is on the verge of the next great innovation in the field of robotics, but he needs partner with L-Corp in order to make it happen. Personally, Lena was never a big fan of Anthony Ivo.

"He's a sociopathic creep. He's almost as bad as my brother," Lena thought with disdain, "Sure, he likes to pretend to be all kind and civil in public, but it's just one big act. I'm pretty sure he's in bed with a lot of shady folks, like those pirates operating out of some island in the South China Sea. What was its name again? Lian Yu. That bastard bought captives they had taken to conduct illegal experiments on them. Sure, he wasn't convicted of it, but I know he had contact with those pirates. Slimy little weasel that one."

So why did Lena even agree to this meeting in the first place?

Well, the answer was rather simple. She wanted to meet up with an old friend, who Ivo invited as another prospective investor for his project.

Sure, it seems silly to devote company to what is essentially a glorified get-together with a childhood friend, but Lena had learned over this past year about the importance of having people you love in your life. Kara may have forgotten that lesson, but it is one that Lena would never forget until the day she died. And even then, she'd probably invent a device to help her remember in the afterlife.

The limo eventually stopped in front the Ivo Labs building as Lena's chauffer opened the door for her. Stepping out, Lena could see a tall, well-built man with short, dirty blonde hair, a small beard, and wearing a formal suit and tie on the opposite end of the concrete path. The man had stepped out of his own limo as he straightened his purple tie. He looked over to Lena and gave her a smile. The two walked over to each other and shook each other's hands.

"Lena Luthor. Long time no see, old friend," the man spoke fondly.

"It's good to see you again, Oliver," Lena said smiling back, "We haven't seen each other since... college, I think. Congratulations on becoming the new CEO of Merlyn-Dearden Industries. Always knew you could make it."

"It's just good old-fashioned nepotism," Oliver said shrugging, "Malcolm is Star City's mayor now, and I was always going to inherit the company. I didn't have to work as hard as you, Lee."

"Well, from what I read, you're doing just fine."

"Thanks," Oliver said before pointing at the door, "Well, let's not keep Ivo waiting. The sooner we get this meeting done, the better."

"You'll get no argument from me, Ollie," Lena said nodding as she followed Oliver into the building.

* * *

Lena and Oliver were escorted to the building's executive elevator by one of Ivo's assistants. Once they were at the right floor, the two CEOs were then guided to Ivo's meeting chamber. Once inside, the two saw the man himself in a white suit, alligator shoes, and wearing a plastered-on smile straight out of a Hallmark card.

The older man walked over to his two guests and shook their hands. "Ms. Luthor, Mr. Dearden. I'm glad you were able to take time off your busy schedules to meet with little old me."

Lena forced a smile as she said, "Well, you could barely contain your excitement over that little project of yours over the phone. I had to see what all the fuss was about."

"And I'm just happy to get away from Star City for a while," Oliver chimed in, "I'd take any excuse to get away from my board."

"Don't we all?", Ivo joked before pointing at the long table in the center of the room, "Please, take a seat."

The two guests took seats at the opposite ends of the table as Ivo walked over to the front of the room and turned on a projector, which displayed his PowerPoint presentation.

As the slideshow began, Ivo began to make his pitch. "Our world has become a dangerous place ever since Superman started showing off his bright red cape in Metropolis. Even more so after his pretty cousin followed in his footsteps. In that time, new threats popped up to challenge them. Alien invaders. Metahumans with extraordinary powers. Even ordinary people armed with not-so-ordinary weapons. Frankly, it's a lot for even two Kryptonians to handle, and our species can't always rely on them to defend us against the next invasion or even the next psycho with powers."

"Is there a point in our immediate future, Mr. Ivo?", Lena asked rather rudely.

Ivo hid his irritation with a chuckle. "As a matter of fact, there is," his slideshow then transitioned to a slide with the picture of a gold plated android that vaguely resembled a very jacked up man, "I call it the 'Anti-Monster Adaptive Zootomic Organism', or AMAZO for short. It is an android with the ability to replicate and store any power that our alien or metahuman enemies might use against us. It's the perfect weapon to protect humanity against the monsters of our new reality."

"An ambitious design to be sure," Oliver admitted, "But how exactly would a robot be able to replicate alien or meta powers? That just doesn't sound possible."

"It is possible with this," Ivo said pulling out a vial of a green tinted liquid, "It's called Mirakuru, an experimental drug that the Japanese were working on in World War II to strengthen their soldiers. They were never able to perfect the formula, but I managed to find a sample on an abandoned naval base off the coast of Hokkaido. After almost two years of research, I managed to adapt the serum with nanotechnology to be able replicate alien or meta DNA, especially the parts that allow for superpowers. Thanks to this little miracle, we can finally bring this dream of mine to life."

"Sounds like you have everything figured out, Ivo," Lena said with suspicious wrinkle in her brow, "But what do you want from us?"

"Well, developing a weapon this advanced won't be a small feat as you know. It would be a lot easier to develop AMAZO if we all partnered on this project and shared resources," Ivo then looked at Lena, "For example, you recently acquired Spheerical Industries, Ms. Luthor, which means you must have access to Jack Spheer's Biomax nanomachines. I've seen what those little wonders could do on the news, and if we lace AMAZO's synthetic flesh with the stuff, it should be able to work in tandem with the Mirakuru to better replicate alien or meta powers."

"You're well informed, Mr. Ivo," Lena said unamused, "But the Biomax nanites are unstable, not to mention it killed three people and nearly killed Supergirl. That's why I shelved that project until I can work out the nanites' design flaws."

"But neither you or the late Mr. Spheer never had the world's foremost expert on robotics working on it before, didn't you?", Ivo said earning him a glare from Lena for his arrogant and insensitive statement. He then looked over to Oliver. "And your company's Applied Sciences Division created the Brother Eye program as a surveillance system for the NSA. The AI in Brother Eye, in my considered opinion, is the most advanced I have ever seen. The system didn't require human input to perform various complex tasks and procedures. If your company still has the base code for the program, then we could adapt it to produce an operating system sophisticated enough for our robotic super soldier."

With an uncomfortable look on his face, Oliver pointed out, "But you seem to forget that incident involving Brother Eye that nearly ruined my company. Do you recall what happened on October 12, 2005? The Brother Eye program went rogue. It attempted to nuke Themyscira and target every metahuman it could find, both guilty and innocent, with drone strikes. If it wasn't for Superman and the Justice League, thousands of people would be dead on top of the hundreds who did die that day."

Lena commented, "For all your talk of building this weapon to protect humanity, this AMAZO project of yours requires two sets of unstable technology responsible for senseless deaths. I cannot be the only who thinks how bad an idea this is."

"I admit. There are... risks, but science is a continual process. After all, it took Thomas Edison one thousand attempts to invent the lightbulb. I'm confident that once we poured our brains and our resources in this project, we will be able to smooth out the tech's rough edges. If we manage to pull this off, we will not only created a deterrent against any future alien or meta threats, but our companies will all be flushed with money from the profits we will make from government contracts."

Lena commented, "I agree with that first statement. But the thing is, Mr. Ivo, is that I wouldn't trust you to look after my pet cat much less take responsibility over an army of superpowered androids. I don't trust you with that kind of power, Anthony, and I will not waste my company's time and resources on your ticking time bomb of project."

Ivo's face fell as he pleaded, "Will you at least think this over? This is a lucrative opportunity that you're just passing up, Ms. Luthor."

"I'm sure, Ivo," Lena said getting up from her seat, "I don't do business with men who think that engaging in human trafficking is a good way to test your products."

Ivo scowled. "That is unproven slander and you know it," he then turned to Oliver, "Mr. Dearden..."

Oliver stood up as well. "I've known Lena Luthor for basically my entire life. She's the most brilliant woman I have ever known, and if she thinks that this AMAZO project is a bad idea, then I trust her judgement," he then looked over to Lena, who gave him an approving nod, "Sorry for wasting your time, Mr. Ivo."

The two then proceeded to walk out of meeting chamber.

Before they left, however, a furious Anthony Ivo spoke out, "If you two want to pass up the chance to share in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, then that's your prerogative. I'll find a way to create AMAZO on my own, and when I do, you two will regret doubting me!"

Lena briefly turned to Ivo and said with disdain, "What I regret, Anthony, is wasting a perfectly good noon listening to you ramble. When this android army of yours inevitably blows up your face, I'll be there to tell you 'I told you so' after Supergirl saves your ass."

Ivo gave Lena a glare of purest rage as he told you, "And I promise you, Lena, that I will make you regret screwing me over today."

Lena scoffed. "You wouldn't be the first to tell me that," she turned to the other CEO and said, "Let's go Oliver."

* * *

Once outside of the building, Oliver, with an amused look on his face, told Lena, "Well, I'm glad to see your wit hasn't dulled a bit since after college."

"I had plenty of opportunities to sharpen it since entering the corporate world," Lena said now more relaxed, "There are no shortage of pigs who think they can step on me just because I'm a woman."

Oliver smiled. "I can see that. You've done one hell of job with L-Corp, Lee. After seeing what you've done with your family's company for the past year, I almost can't believe that it was almost ruined by your supervillain brother."

The two stopped as Lena smiled back. "Thanks, and you're not doing too bad as well. I heard your company just patented the T-Spheres. That's no small feat, and you should know that I'm not so easily impressed when it comes to tech."

Oliver shrugged. "That's mostly the doing of Curtis Holt and Felicity Smoak. I just paid for their research."

"Don't sell yourself short, Ollie. Having an eye for talent is more impressive than you think," Lena's smile became more wistful as she said, "Thea would be proud of you."

"I know," Oliver paused for a second, "She would be... happy for you too."

Lena sighed. "Look at me ruining the mood. I'm sorry for bringing this up. Let's just start over. Lunch?"

Oliver shook his head. "No, I'm supposed to meet with my sister, Emiko. There is a Canaries concert this afternoon, and I promised that we'd go together."

"I understand," Lena nodded if a bit disappointed, "Have fun."

"Thanks," Oliver before giving Lena a knowing look and saying, "And besides, I think you'd rather spend your afternoon with a certain report from Catco."

Lena crinkled her eyebrow in confusion. "What? How do you..."

"It's popular subject of speculation in the tabloids. People are a lot more perceptive than you think, Lena," Oliver then smirked, "That, and I've known you since boarding school. This Kara Danvers is definitely your type."

Lena chuckled if a little sadly. "About that... Kara and I... aren't really together."

"But you want to be."

"I... yeah. Yes, I do," Lena confessed, "It's just... she just... broke up with her ex a couple months ago. She's been distant lately and not just to me. It's like she... wants to drive away everyone important in her life. I've been trying to stop her from completely cutting herself off. Keep her grounded, you know? But she's just... not responding the way I'd like. It's like trying to stop the tides..."

"Didn't invent a machine to do that in your freshman year in college?", he remarked.

"Ollie... that's not the point."

"Look, take it from someone whose been in like a hundred relationships," Oliver started to say, "From what you told me, Kara is hurting, and she just broke off from a serious relationship. That takes a toll, believe me. The best thing for both of you right now is to let her take a step back and process her own feelings. Let her figure herself out first. Only then can she start to be more receptive to outside help."

"But I feel like if I do that, I'd... I'd lose her forever in her... delusions," Lena said carefully, "I just want to see her happy again."

"I can see that," Oliver said before presenting his business card to Lena, "I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what's best for both you. Whatever you decide, know that I'll be happy to support you whenever you need me."

Lena took Oliver's card and said, "God, I missed you."

She then moved in to give Oliver a hug. He let out an amused chuckle, "Lena Luthor, a hugger? Never thought I'd see the day."

She pulled away and smirked. "I've changed a lot since college. I'd like to say it's for the better. Mostly."

"I've changed too. Hopefully I can say the same thing," Oliver then moved to his limo, "Like I said before, call me if you're in need for a talk. I'll always make time for you."

Lena laughed. "Thanks Ollie. See you later."

* * *

Back on the road, Lena instructed her driver to take her to Catco. James asked for an exclusive for a recent diabetes drug that her company had been working on, and she was more than happy to help out a friend (and get some media attention for her product at the same time). As the limo continued driving through the freeway, Lena was on her phone looking at her messaging board.

Kara hadn't responded to that text Lena sent her this morning. In fact, she hasn't been texting her back for the entire month.

Lena sighed. "Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. But hell, it's not like there's anything else I could do."

Lena typed in another text.

_"Kara. I have to do an interview with James at two. But I'm free all day after that. If you want, we could do lunch at three or something. Please text me back. Or call me. Or just... respond."_

Text sent.

"Give her some space...", Lena groaned as she rubbed her forehead, "I should probably listen to Oliver. I'm running myself mad trying get Kara to connect to us again. I swear, that girl is gonna be the death of me..."

SMASH!

A bullet suddenly smashed through the limo's side window before piercing through the driver's head. The driver slumped over into his steering wheel dead. With his foot still on the gas, gravity made the driver's dead body drift over to the right with his body leaning against the steering wheel. Before Lena could return react, her limo smashed into the side of a nearby car. She was suddenly pushed off her seat only to be stopped by her seatbelt. Lena then crashed back down into her seat as she hit head hard against a wall and passed out.

When Lena came to several minutes later, she found herself in the middle of a really bad pileup with ruined cars all around her. She looked over to the front to see her driver dead with a bullet hole in his temple.

Understanding what's happening, a startled Lena unhooked her seatbelt as she said to herself, "Someone's trying to kill me! I have to get out..."

BANG! BANG!

Lena felt two bullets entering her chest. Coughing out blood, Lena dropped to her seat, paralyzed with pain, as she looked up to see a man outside her door in a red combat suit, white mask, and a pair of guns mounted on his wrists. The assassin looked down at the dying Lena with a red glowing tactical eyepiece over his left eye.

Feeling her life slipping away, Lena wheezed, "Who..."

BANG!

The assassin let off another shot, which obliterated Lena's right eye and exited through the back of her skull, splattering her brains all over the wall.

As Lena slumped over dead on her seat, the assassin shot the dead CEO in the chest one more time as he said, "Bang. You're dead."

He then walked away before Supergirl or the cops could arrive. Lena's corpse laid down silently in her seat for a few minutes. Before any first responders arrived to take her body to the morgue, a shining green lantern suddenly appeared above the freeway. The mystical device burned through the roof of Lena's limo as it landed right next to the young CEO's corpse.

The flame within the lantern glowed again as the voice said, _"Three times shall I flame green. First, to bring death. Second, to bring life..."_

A brilliant energy suddenly pulsed out of the lantern. A second later, the bloody holes in Lena's body closed up as if it was never pierced by bullets. Her destroyed eye reconstituted itself to its natural white and green before Lena's heart began to beat again.

Taking in a sudden and sharp breath, Lena squirmed into her seat dazed and disoriented. Once she was brought back to life, the lantern's light died down as an emerald ring floated out of its flame. It nestled itself into Lena's right ring finger as she laid down with shallow breaths.

One second later, Supergirl landed right next to the limo. She ripped the door straight from its hinges as she looked down to see Lena unconscious but alive.

Relief overcoming her distressed face, Kara picked Lena up in a bridal carry and hugged her close as she whispered, "Thank Rao, you're alright."

With her best friend safe in her arms, Kara flew back into the air as she sped to the nearest hospital. In her worry, however, Kara didn't notice the big green lantern sitting in her friend's limo or the strange little ring on her finger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And... scene! You know, I was genuinely thinking about actually killing off Lena here and end with Kara tearfully cradling her corpse in her arms. I was seriously planning on giving the Starheart to Alex to subvert your expectations.
> 
> Not! I mean, I love playing with my audience's emotions, but I'm not stupid. You guys came here for GL Lena, and you will get GL Lena. I promise.
> 
> So yeah, a lot happened in this chapter even before Lena got (temporarily) killed. For one, I gave Aya an adoptive mom in Reza, who is an original creation of mine. Aya is a precious little cinnamon bun who needs to be protected at all costs, and she deserves a better mother figure than Scar. And thus, I created Reza, who treats Aya with nothing but love and respect.
> 
> And in case you didn't realize by now, Oliver Dearden is the Earth-38 doppelganger of Oliver Queen. In this reality, his father, Robert Queen, chose to be with Kazumi Adachi and their daughter, Emiko. Moira divorced him, took custody of Thea and Oliver, and she would later marry Malcolm Merlyn. Because of Robert's departure, Moira had her son's last name changed to Dearden to spite Robert. She also told Thea of her true parentage, resulting in her changing her last name to Merlyn once Malcolm came into the picture.
> 
> With the help of her new husband, Moira ousted Robert from Queen Consolidated, and she negotiated a merger with Merlyn Global Group. From this corporate mess, Merlyn-Dearden Industries was born. But don't worry about Robert, though. He, Kazumi, and Emiko managed to scrape out a comfortable living in Seattle despite the hostile takeover.
> 
> I'll also confirm three things. One, look forward to seeing more of Oliver Dearden in future chapters. He'll be involved some of the more important plot beats in ways you probably won't expect. Second, the guy who shot Lena is Deadshot. He'll make a good starter villain, I think, and expect him to be joined by two more members of the Secret Six as he tries to fulfill his contract. And also, he's going to look like how he was in Suicide Squad. That movie might be a mess, but I do love Will Smith's rendition of the character, so that's my primary inspiration for writing Deadshot here. And finally, I'll elaborate more about the history of the Titans in Earth-38 and Supergirl's involvement with them. It will involve me retconning a few things from Seasons 1 and 2.
> 
> While I did mention the Justice League here, I'm not sure if they'll still exist by the present day or if they disbanded by now. I think it will depend on whether or not I want Superman and co to be involved somehow later in the story similar to how Young Justice cartoon used them. I'm leaning toward yes at the moment, but that might change as the story goes on.
> 
> But that should be enough notes for now. Thanks for the read and have a nice day.


	3. Power

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A minor edit from last chapter.
> 
> I decided to remove a small reference to Aqualad (Kaldur'ahm/Jackson Hyde) as my vision for this story doesn't really have a place for him in the foreseeable future. Instead, I had Oliver say that he's going to meet up with his half-sister, Emiko.
> 
> That's it. Enjoy the show.

**Star City University**

**Six Years Ago**

A couple days before classes began, Lena Luthor enters the dorm that SCU assigned her to along with her roommate- a pretty young woman with short, brunette hair and a scar across her right cheek. The two women set their bags on the floor as they surveyed their rather small but cozy new living quarters.

The brunette spoke up, "It's not exactly the Ritz-Carlton, but it'll do just fine for the next four years."

"As long as I get to be away from my mom for all that time, I'm good," Lena said as she walked over to one of the beds and just flopped down like a fish, "Thought the beds would be a lot harder. This is nice..."

The brunette walked over to Lena with an amused smirk. "Better enjoy this while you can. You'll probably have to graduate early being the girl genius that you are."

Lena groaned. "Oh, please don't bring up that nightmare scenario, Thea. I'm half-tempted to bomb my classes on purpose just to stay here a little longer."

"You'll probably get kicked out early instead if you did that."

"So you're telling me I'm screwed either way? Is that what you're saying?"

Thea laughed as she sat next her roommate. "I guess so!", she then clasped Lena's hand, "SCU looks as nice as the brochures make them out to be. Fun and interesting clubs. Picture perfect parks. Great eating joints..."

"Up-to-date science labs," Lena chimed in.

Thea shook her head dismissively. "Of course you'd think about that."

"What can I say?", Lena said as she sat up and leaned against Thea, "I'm a giant nerd."

"A very hot nerd," Thea said as she moved in to share a kiss with Lena. The kiss started out chaste and gentle at first, but then Thea grabbed Lena's waist and flopped her back into bed. Laying on top of Lena, Thea continued making out with her brilliant girlfriend as Lena's hands roamed the familiar curves of her unusually scarred body.

The two eventually separated for air. As Lena panted and looked into Thea's beautiful hazel eyes, she asked, "Do you think we'll have a future together after school ends. Do you think my mother would..."

Thea hushed her girlfriend and said, "Don't think about tomorrow. Just focus on the here and now. Focus on what you want now. What do you want?"

"I want you," Lena said softly her hands drifting towards the buttons in Thea's green blouse.

With wicked smirk, Thea said, "Then claim me."

Lena smiled from ear to ear as she started to unbutton Thea's blouse while moaning as the latter's mouth was on her neck.

* * *

**National City**

**Now**

Lena opened her eyes. She found herself laying on a hospital bed with an IV strapped to her arm and an EKG beeping over her head. It was nighttime too, so she's been out for at least six or seven hours. A little dazed, Lena turned her head over to see a beautiful young woman taking a nap on a chair next to her.

"Thea?", Lena whispered. Her voice managed to wake the girl up from her slumber. But when Lena blinked, she noticed that the girl had blonde hair, glasses, and perfect skin that was free of scars.

Not Thea then.

Kara yawned and got up from her chair. She then looked down on Lena and gave her a gentle smile that made Lena feel warm inside. Kara held Lena's hand as she said breathlessly, "You're okay..."

Lena scoffed. "I feel like shit. What happened?"

Kara stopped smiling. She stammered, "You... you were in a... in an accident, Lena. Your limo... crashed. Got caught in a pileup. The driver died, and you..."

"Hey," Lena said as she held Kara's cheek, "It's fine. I'm fine."

"I should've come sooner," Kara said as tears began streaming down her face, "Four people died. A dozen injured. You were almost one of them, and... I should've seen it coming. I should've done more..."

"Kara," Lena said firmly, "You couldn't have known. It was so sudden."

"I can fly and have super senses. I should've known..."

"You're not all knowing, Kara. Don't beat yourself up over this. Not even Supergirl can save everyone, but you did save me. Like always."

Kara's voice began breaking as she said, "I almost lost you today... if you died, I..."

"Come here," Lena said as she sat up and opened her arms wide.

Sobbing, Kara moved in and embraced Lena as gently as she could. She whispered, "When I said I will always protect you, I will. I'm gonna keep my promise. I'm not gonna lose you like..."

It was too painful to say. Even after two months, Mon-El's departure was still like an open wound in Kara's heart. Although she wanted to push these difficult feelings down and focus on being a hero, Kara couldn't deny the pain that her decision caused her. While she may not act like it these days, the friends and loved ones she has left mean the world to her. These days, Kara felt like she was only one loss away from breaking completely.

"Let me make a promise to you too," Lena said trying to sound strong for Kara, "No matter what happens. You won't lose me. I'll always be there for you, Kara, and I'll always... love you. You're... you're my best friend, and I'll always lend ear and a shoulder for you to lean on."

"Lena, I...", Kara sniffled and began to compose herself, "I love you too, Lena."

Lena didn't know what else to say. Did Kara really just confess her love to her right now? Is possible that...

The door to Lena's room then opened to reveal Oliver walking over to his injured friend.

"Lena. I heard what happened," Oliver said with a worried look as he walked over to her side, "Thank God you're alright!"

"Oliver? What are you doing here?", Kara asked confused by the man's presence.

Oliver glanced at Kara and said, "I'm visiting an old friend, and I don't believe that you and I are familiar enough to be on a first name basis."

"Oliver, it's okay," Lena told him, "This is Kara Danvers. The... friend I told you about."

Oliver immediately put on a smile as he walked over to Kara and offered his hand. "Any friend of Lena's is a friend of mine. My name is Oliver Dearden. CEO of Merlyn-Dearden Industries and Lena's friend from boarding school. I'm especially proud of that last title. She is a remarkable woman as you know."

A little weirded out, Kara shook Oliver's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Oliver then turned back to Lena. "Are you feeling fine? Is there anything I could do for you?"

"I'm fine, Oliver. I didn't break anything important. I'm just a little tired," Lena then winced, "And a little sore."

"Probably from bruises from your crash. I have an ointment at my hotel room that could help with the pain. I'll have someone fetch it for you."

"You're very sweet, Ollie. Thank you."

"Any time. I'd hate to leave so soon, but I'm about to be late for a meeting. If you'll excuse me."

Lena nodded. "Thank you, Oliver. For everything."

Oliver nodded back before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Once they were alone, Lena asked, "Any reason why you were staring at Oliver like that? He's not secretly a killer cyborg, is he?"

Kara laughed. "No, it's... I traveled to another dimension last year to stop an alien invasion."

Lena's eyes widened. "Okay... that's new."

"Yeah, but it honestly wasn't as bad as you think. It was kind of like a vacation, actually. I made a lot of new friends on that other Earth. One of those friends was Oliver's... doppelganger."

"I see," Lena said as she struggled to take in this new level of weirdness, "I suppose meeting a stranger with the face of someone you know can be a little... trippy."

"Very trippy. Our universe's Oliver actually seems... nice and approachable. And he can actually smile. It's... very unsettling."

"Why? Is Oliver the silent, brooding type on this other Earth?", Lena said teasing.

"Yeah, and he's also the Green Arrow there," Kara added, "Weird right?"

"Oliver... is the Green Arrow of this other Earth?", Lena said her face curling up in shock.

"That's what I just said," Kara said surprised of Lena's behavior, "I admit, seeing a dude carrying that bow was weird at first when ours was a cool lady, but..."

Lena interrupts Kara and asked, "But what about Thea? Is there a Thea Merlyn on that other Earth?"

"She goes by 'Thea Queen' there, but yes," Kara then asked worriedly, "Lena, what's wrong?"

Lena looked away from Kara solemnly as she exhaled a troubled breath. "The... the Green Arrow on our Earth was my... I was close to her. Before..."

Kara nodded in understanding. "I see. I'm sorry."

"Yeah...", Lena murmured before looking back at Kara, "Do you think I could visit that world's Thea some time? It's fine if you can't..."

"As soon as you're better, I can make that happen," Kara then formed a warm and caring smile, "I've looking for an excuse to visit Earth-1 anyway."

"Thank you," Lena said smiling back.

"Do you want to talk about her?", Kara asked with care, "I'm willing to listen."

Lena looked back down as memories of the girl she knew in college flashed before her eyes. And with those memories came guilt for letting things end badly between them.

She answered Kara, "I... rather not talk about it right now if you don't mind."

"Of course," Kara said holding her hand supportively, "I'm sorry for bringing this up. I didn't know it would hurt you this bad."

"It's fine. I just... I just want to be alone right now. Okay?"

"Whatever you need," Kara said before walking out the door.

Lena sighed as she brooded alone with her memories. She was playing with her fingers anxiously when she noticed something metal was resting on one of her ring fingers. Lena lifted up her hand to find an unfamiliar ring nestled on her right ring finger.

She hummed to herself. "How did you get there?"

* * *

After leaving Lena's room, Kara walked into the nearest elevator and had it climb down to the lobby with the press of a button. As she waited patiently for the elevator to complete its trip, Kara felt her phone in pocket vibrate. Picking it up, Kara could see that she was being called by an unknown caller.

Answering the call, Kara lifted the phone over to her ear and said, "Hello?"

A heavily distorted voice sounded on the other line. _"Kara Danvers. Listen to me close, because I will only say this once."_

Frowning, Kara replied, "Who is this? How did you get my number?"

_"Irrelevant details, Ms. Danvers. What is truly important is knowing that your friend, Lena Luthor, did not get into an accident on the highway. Someone tried to kill her."_

The news hit Kara like a truck made of Nth metal. "How do you know this?"

_"A sniper's bullet killed the driver before he crashed. Several more bullet holes were found in her limo. No doubt missed shots from the assassin. The identity of the shooter is unimportant, but I do know who ordered the hit."_

"Who tried to kill my best friend?", Kara said darkly.

_"Anthony Ivo. CEO of Ivo Labs. He has a vendetta against Lena Luthor."_

"Why should I trust you?"

_"Trust is not relevant here. You will find the proof you need in Ivo's servers. When you get back to your apartment, you will find a digital sniffer on your counter. Use it to access Ivo Labs' files."_

"Who are you?"

_"Prometheus."_

Call ended.

Kara shoved her phone back in her pocket as the elevator doors opened. Walking out of it, Kara felt a suffocating weight on her shoulders.

"So someone's trying to kill my best friend, _and _I have a creepy stalker now. Can this day get any worse?"

* * *

**One Hour Later**

Inside a red Escalade, a bald, black man with a rather clean goatee was driving through downtown National City while talking to someone on his fancy car's built-in computer via Bluetooth. From the tone of his voice, the man doesn't seem to be having that great of a time.

"Look man, I could've sworn I offed Lena Luthor. I distinctly remember pumping that bitch full of lead. That's definitely not something I'd remember wrong."

A differently distorted voice was on the other side of the line. _"You must have missed her vital points then, because she's alive and well in National City General."_

"I shot that ho in the head! Splattered her brains all over her car and everything!", the man yelled in a defensive tone, "Luthor must have healing powers now or something, because on anyone else, that shit would be permanent!"

_"I don't care for excuses, Deadshot! I hired you for one thing and one thing only. Kill Lena Luthor."_

"And I will, alright! I'll put that bitch on the ground. For good this time. You have my word."

_"You better, Lawton. Otherwise, I'll find someone else who will do the job right."_

Call ended.

Deadshot shook his head as he mumbled under his breath, "Asshole."

After a few more minutes of driving, Deadshot found himself in the vicinity of National City General. He entered a parking garage next to the building, fooling security with a fake ID. He drove his car all the way to the top of the structure before parking at a corner near the hospital. Once he was there, Deadshot killed the engine and stepped out of his car.

He walked over to the trunk of his car and opened it. Staring at its contents, Deadshot told himself, "If this won't kill her, then nothing will."

* * *

After being examined by a doctor, Lena was cleared to leave. She changed out of her hospital gown and into a fresh set of casual clothes that one of her employees sent to her. Before she left, Lena set aside some time aside to examine the curious green ring that now graced her finger.

Lena owned a lot of jewelry. It's practically part of the dress code within the circles the young CEO usually frequents. However, Lena wasn't really the type of person who would buy so much jewelry that she would lose track of what pieces she actually owns. And she certainly doesn't recall putting this emerald lantern ring on when she left for Ivo Labs this morning.

"The bright green is a little bit too gaudy for my taste, but I must admit. The craftsmanship is exquisite," Lena hummed to herself, "But how did it get here? I guess this must be a 'get-well' present from Ollie. He must have sent someone to slip this on while I was under. Or perhaps this is Kara's doing... nah, I don't think she can afford this on a reporter's salary. I suppose I shouldn't be complaining. I survived a car crash, and I have a nice new ring out of it. Just count your blessings, Lena Luthor. You'll be alright."

Lena grabbed her purse, but then something compelled her to open it first before putting it on. She grabbed her rather fat wallet and pried open the second fold next to the cash. Lena picked up the small and slightly crumpled photo tucked within it. She placed her wallet back in her bag as she stared at the photo longingly.

It was taken during her college years in Star City University. She was in a bar taking a selfie with a younger Jack Spheer and Thea Merlyn. They all had their drinks held high as they smiled for the camera. Jack was his usual bright and cheerful self (though this was unfortunately during a phase where he thought that growing a mullet and having a porn stache was somehow a good idea). Thea was holding Lena close and kissed her cheek. And Lena herself was just...

"Happy. Really happy," Lena said wistfully to herself.

Those years in SCU were some of the best in her life, and it's not because she was the top student on campus. It was because she had two wonderful friends, who, along with Oliver and Emiko, helped her feel loved and accepted during a time where Lena didn't feel that way with her own family.

She remembered having fun at Jack's garage working on what would be the earliest prototype for the Biomax nanites. She remembered game nights at her dorm, study groups that devolve into idle chatter, and date nights with Thea that Italian restaurant that she liked whose name escapes Lena at the moment. And most fondly of all, Lena remembered kissing the love of her life and sleeping beside her every night.

And now they're both gone.

Lena appreciated all the friends she had made since coming to National City, and she wouldn't trade them for the world. But she will always miss that tightly knit circle she made in college, and the beautiful girl who always managed to brighten her day.

"I don't even know why I'm even thinking about this right now. It's been a year since Thea...", Lena shuts her eyes hard as she shoved her feelings back down to the darkest corner of her mind. "Why do I do this to myself?"

Lena was on her way out the door when she was suddenly struck by a sudden and aching migraine.

Wincing and clutching her forehead with her free hand, Lena cursed under her breath, "What the hell?! What's... happening?"

All of a sudden, a terrible pain began spiking her body- in her chest and in her right eye. Lena felt as if she was stabbed repeatedly in the chest, and the pain in her eye was like a needle was being violently shoved through her socket. Lena began to scream; the pain was that bad. At the same time, her ring begin to glow a bright green while the lights in her room began to flicker and fail. Anything electronic in room began frying as sparks started to fly all around Lena. However, Lena didn't notice all the carnage around her as the white hot pain tore her from the inside out.

"What's happening to me?!", Lena whimpered. Outside her room, nurses began rushing over to Lena's room. However, the door was suddenly closed and locked itself. As the nurses struggled to barge into their patient's room, Lena started to get flushed by a whole new set of memories. More horrifying ones. She remembered being concussed when her limo first crashed. She remembered waking up alone and scared in the middle of a bad wreck. And most terrible of all, she remembered a man in a white mask shooting her in the chest and then... the head? "That's... impossible! I... died?"

_"Three times shall I flame green..."_

Spooked by this new voice, Lena, despite the pain and trauma pulsing throughout her body, called out, "Who's there?! Who are you?!"

_"First to bring death..."_

"Agh! The pain!", Lena screamed as she clutched her head.

_"Second to bring life..."_

"Please! Make it stop!"

_"Third to bring power!"_

Lena screamed as the last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was the image of blonde man in a red shirt and a cape.

She woke up a few seconds later to a pitch black room. All the lights died out as a result of this... psychic phenomenon (that's the best explanation Lena could come up with at the moment). The only light in the room was a green ray coming from the hospital bed. Lena slowly stood up. By then, the pain mostly subsided leaving only residual aches behind.

Lena winced as she looked at the bed to find a big green lantern shining its green flame at her. She didn't know what the hell this thing even is. Is it an alien artifact? Tech from another Earth? A magical artifact?

"Magic...", Lena scoffed, "I should know better."

However, Lena couldn't keep her eyes off this strange lantern. She should be terrified right now. This thing is most likely responsible for her pain spikes and all the electrical damage in Lena's room. Despite that, Lena doesn't feel threatened by the lantern. Not even a little bit. The lantern's presence was actually putting her mind at ease.

"It's as if I've known this thing all my life," Lena thought as she stared into the green flame, "Like I know it will keep me safe..."

The green lantern then spoke again. _"Lena Luthor. You have been chosen. Speak the oath and fulfill your destiny."_

Lena's eyes shined a bright green as she obediently made a fist with her right hand. She placed that fist over at the lantern's flame, and as if she had been speaking this her entire life, Lena began to chant the lantern's oath.

"I shall shed my light over all evil, for the darkness cannot stand against the light. The light of... the Green Lantern!"

BOOM!

* * *

From a parking garage next to the hospital, Deadshot, now fully kitted out in his mask and suit, stood at the edge of the roof with a now empty rocket launcher slung over his shoulder. He watched as the part of the building where Lena Luthor's room was went up in smoke. Scoffing behind his mask, Deadshot walked over to his car and placed his rocket launcher back to the trunk.

"That Luthor girl ought to be a fine paste by now," Deadshot said as he closed his trunk, "But just in case, I gotta get into her room. See for myself. And if I have to, I'm gonna light up what's left of her corpse with silver bullets. I'm not about to let Lex's little sister mess up my perfect record."

Deadshot grabbed a grappling gun and was ready to shoot it up to Lena's floor. However, he then saw a solitary green light fly out of the smoke.

The assassin squinted at it and whispered, "What the hell?"

The green light then flew closer and closer until it landed across Deadshot like a meteor. Lawton was nudged back a bit by the shockwave of the impact. When he looked at the spot where the light landed, he saw a woman wearing a high-collared purple and green cape. She also wore a purple domino mask, a red long-sleeved shirt with the yellow and green symbol of a lantern on her chest, green trousers, a black buckled belt, red boots, and a glowing green ring on her right ring finger. The woman's hair was blonde and tied into a ponytail.

The caped woman stared down her would-be killer. Deadshot screamed, "Seriously?! I thought National City only had one blonde cape! Why the hell does it need two?! Motherfucker! And a Green Lantern too?! Isn't six enough?! Screw this! I'm correcting this redundant crap!"

Deadshot pulled up his gun gauntlets and fired at Green Lantern. However, Lena instinctively conjured an energy barrier to block the bullets from hitting her. As if an otherworldly power was guiding her body, Lena then fired an green energy blast at Deadshot from her ring. The assassin managed to roll out in time to dodge the blast, but it blew up his car instead.

Deadshot looked at his now flaming wreck of a car as he shouted, "You bitch! My insurance doesn't cover superhero energy blasts!"

"Then turn yourself in. You won't have to pay for anything in prison," Lena said before firing another energy blast.

Deadshot dodged the blast again before open firing on Lena with his gauntlet guns. Green Lantern flew up and shielded herself again with green energy before firing back from her protective barrier. Deadshot started running, dodging energy blasts and explosions, before taking cover behind the base of the lamppost.

As Lena laid down suppressive fire through her ring's energy blasts, she thought to herself, "What am I doing? This is insane! I can't believe that the ring I have right now is a Green Lantern ring! And I am... surprisingly good that this. Wait... Green Lanterns can use their ring to create energy constructs. Maybe I can..."

Lena turned off her shield before concentrating on the object in her mind's eye. After a second, Lena formed a huge minigun in her hands. Laughing at herself amazed, Lena muttered to herself, "I surprise myself sometimes. Damn, I'm good."

She then pulled the trigger of her new weapon, causing the barrels to rotate before firing an intense volley of green bullets at her assassin.

The metal in Deadshot's cover began to be shredded away by Lena's bullets, and he knew it. "Damn it! I only packed Kryptonite bullets just in case Supergirl showed up! I'm not ready for a Green Lantern!", he grumbled under his breath, "Fuck it. Live to fight another day."

Deadshot grabbed a detonator from his utility belt and pressed a button. A second later, an explosion sounded at a distance. Lena stopped firing as she stared at distant fire consuming the top floor of an apartment complex.

Deadshot explained, "Those explosions you hear were from the incendiary bombs I planted earlier just in case one of you heroes decided to get in my way! I think you know the drill by now, Lantern. Either catch me or save the fools trapped on the apartment building I just burned!"

The pragmatist in Lena Luthor, the side of her born from her Luthor genes and cold upbringing, urged her to secure Deadshot first. Not only for her own survival, but also to prevent him from killing more people. However, her conscience, one tenderly nurtured by the love of her life, compelled Lena to save the civilians first. It was a struggle at first, but Lena couldn't look Kara in the eye if let innocents die on her watch.

She couldn't live with herself if she did.

And so, Lena let her minigun disappear before flying off toward the direction of the burning building.

Deadshot let out a relieved sigh. "Now I gotta walk back to the safehouse. Knew I should've picked that Gotham job instead. At least the Bats don't fuck up my cars like this! Damn!"

* * *

As Lena flew towards the flaming apartment in subsonic speeds, she thought, "Holy shit! This crazy! I'm a Green Lantern! I have superpowers! How the hell do I have powers? Oh wait... the ring. Well, how did a magic ring managed to slip into my fingers anyhow? I'm pretty sure I'd remember finding a power ring. Unless... Deadshot killed me. And then the ring... brought me back to life? Speaking of the ring, these powers... how come they came so easily to me? I thought this superhero gig was supposed to have a learning curve. At least, Kara made it look that way. What the fuck is going on?"

CRASH!

While deep in thought, Lena smashed into the side of the apartment building. The force briefly knocked the wind out of her as she fell down almost five stories next to a team of firefighters. Her impact into the concrete made a small crater, not to mention spooking the hell out of the firefighters. Thankfully, the ring's energy aura protected Lena from the brunt of the crash.

Coughing, Lena slowly got back up staggering as one of the firefighters broke off from the rest of her team as they held up a big hose. The firefighter walked towards this mysterious caped individual and said, "You there! You're a superhero right? We saw you fall out of the sky."

A little embarrassed, Lena awkwardly brushed off some debris from her clothes as she cleared her throat and tried her best to do a superhero voice. "I, uh, yes. What seems to be the problem good... citizen?"

"The problem is that a bomb went off on the top floor of this apartment complex, and the fire is spreading!", the firefighter explained a little panicked, "We got most of civilians out, but there people trapped on the top floor. My guys won't make it there in time. Can you do something about it Miss..."

"I'm... I'm Green Lantern. That's right. The Green Lantern. You can see by my... red shirt," Lena said as she actually took a moment to realize how much of a fashion disaster her super suit is.

"I thought the woman Green Lantern was Hispanic... you know what, I don't care who you are. Can you rescue the folks up there or not?"

Lena nodded. "Of course, I am... Green Lantern. Um... up up and away!"

Lena then threw her fist up and flew into the burning floor. The firefighter shook her head dismissively as she muttered under her breath, "Where's Supergirl when you need her?"

* * *

Lena flew into the burning floor through a busted window. Once she entered the apartment, intense heat began to cook her pale skin and smoke began filling her lungs. Lena began coughing, but thankfully her ring automatically formed a protective aura around her that protected her from the heat and filtered the air she breathed.

Sighing in relief, Lena said, "That's convenient."

Now sufficiently shielded, Lena looked around to find any survivors. Eventually, she found a dozen scared civilians huddled up inside a room.

One of the civilians looked at Lena and pointed at her. "Holy crap! It's a Green Lantern! She's gonna save us!"

Another civilian squinted at Lena and said, "But why is she wearing a red shirt?"

"And what the fuck is up with those colors? Ah! That's just pure visual terrorism, lady!"

Lena rolled her eyes. "Do you want me to save your asses? Or would you like me take some time off to redesign my uniform?"

"No Green Lantern!", a different civilian pleaded, "Please! Get us out of here!"

"Right. Um...", Lena said as she was currently at a loss on how exactly she planned to do that. There wasn't an opening in sight that could haul all these civilians out at once. She could try to float these civilians out the window one at a time using her ring's power, but that would take too long.

A section of scaffolding suddenly collapsed a few feet away from Lena and company, crushing a nearby bed through sheer weight.

Annoyed, another civilian spoke up, "Any time now!"

"God! Why does Coast City have to hoard all the good Green Lanterns?", another civilian commented.

"Ungrateful pricks," Lena muttered under her breath. Thankfully, an idea formed inside Lena's bright head. "Move aside," Lena motioned the civilians. Despite their rather... difficult demeanor, the civilians did what Lena said. The new Green Lantern then fired an energy blast from her ring, which blew a chunk of the wall out to make a sizable hole to the outside. However, the blast also inadvertently send huge chunks of debris down to the crowd below.

It landed next to a firefighter, who jumped away in fright as the debris nearly crushed him to death. Irritated, he called out to Lena, "Watch it!"

"Sorry!", Lena apologized awkwardly. She then turned to the civilians and pointed her ring at them. Lena formed a green protective bubble around all of them before she flew down the apartment complex. The bubble of civilians floated down with her safely before they landed near the firefighters. Once Lena disengaged the bubble, a host of emergency workers rushed over to tend to the formerly trapped civilians. Lena looked over all of them and asked, "Okay. Did I get everyone out?"

It was then that another one of the civilians, an orange skinned Tamaranean woman, spoke out, "My son is still trapped up there! We got separated when bombs went off! Please help!"

Lena nodded. "Got it."

She then flew back inside the burning floor. Once back inside, Lena spent a couple minutes wandering around the floor when an aching thought suddenly slithered into her brain.

"What am I doing?!", Lena said panicking, "I'm no superhero! I can't just insert myself into a dire situation and expect things to turn out okay. I don't have the experience! People could die because of me! I need to call Kara! She would know how to handle this."

Instinctively, a green cellphone suddenly appeared in Lena's hand. Rushing, Lena inputted Kara's number and waited.

_"This is Kara Danvers. I can't come to the phone right now. Leave a..."_

Frustrated, Lena ended the call. "Why did I expect a different result? I really must be insane," Lena said before calming herself down, "Okay, Lena. Think. You have the most powerful weapon in the universe in your fingers. A weapon that you have a surprising amount of mastery over. I need to find this alien kid as quickly as possible. So... I'll just summon the x-ray vision goggles that I'm developing at L-Corp!"

With that epiphany, Lena summoned a set of bulky goggles over her eyes. Once the construct settled in, Lena was able to see the world in a transparent blue. This dazzling new experience was a little overwhelming for the very much human Lena Luthor at first.

"Damn. This is just... wow," Lena said to herself as she felt a small headache coming up, "I can't believe I actually got these to work. Is this really how Kara sees the world?", he idle thoughts stopped as she found a small humanoid skeleton huddled up to her far left, "Gotcha."

Lena disengaged her goggles as she navigated through the fire and debris to make it inside the room the Tamaranean boy was in. After using her ring to telekinetically pull down the scaffolding blocking the door out of her way, she ran over to a closet within the burning remains of a child's bedroom. Lena opened the closet to find a boy with orange skin and luminescent green eyes huddled up in a corner.

"Come on. I'll get you to safety," Lena said before moving towards him. However, the boy winced and moved away from Lena. Confused, Lena asked, "What's wrong?"

As the child whimpered, Lena felt the urge to smack herself in the head as she realized something important. Lena was a weirdly dressed stranger in a mask. The alien child is scared out of his mind and was probably warned not to trust strangers in masks. It was probably not a good habit to develop this early on in her superhero career, but time was of the essence.

Lena willed her mask to disappear and her hair to turn back into its natural brown. She knelt down at the child's level and looked at him as gently as she could.

The boy gasped and said, "You're Supergirl's friend..."

"My name is Lena, and please...", she then outstretched her non-ring hand, "Let me help you."

The boy stared at Lena for a moment before he shakily reached for her hand. Lena then picked the alien boy up before resummoning her mask and allowing her hair to turn blonde. She sensed the apartment building falling apart around her, so she quickly flew back from where she came.

Stray scaffolding and rubble started coming down all around Lena as she swiftly maneuvered around all of them. Eventually, she was a few feet away from the hole she made, but Lena saw that the ceiling above it was about to crumble down. Gritting her teeth, Lena willed her ring to output more power, allowing her to speed through the hole before the ceiling collapsed.

Now out of the burning building, Lena slowly floated back down to the crowd. Lena spotted the boy's mother, and she landed right next to her. Grateful tears streaming down her face, the Tamaranean woman grabbed her son and held him close as she whispered a 'thank you' to Lena Luthor.

This was actually a new experience for Lena. Someone was actually grateful and appreciative of her. Such things were never common for someone with her last name, but there it is.

And Lena loved it.

She nodded and told the woman, "Just doing my job."

By then, a news crew arrived to cover the story. The reporter powered through the crowd as she and her cameraman forced their way to the new Green Lantern.

Eagerly, the British reporter asked Lena, "Miss! We heard that you are the newest Green Lantern! Can you confirm that for us?"

A little floored, Lena replied, "I am. Yes, I am Green Lantern."

"Splendid! So it's true that you're the eighth Green Lantern to inherit the mantle. How did you get the ring? Do you know where the other seven Lanterns are? If you're National City's newest superhero, do you consider Supergirl your ally or your rival?"

Lena Luthor was no stranger to the media spotlight, but the reporter was asking questions that Lena really had no answers for. Hell, she didn't even know if she even wanted to continue being the... eighth Green Lantern? There was one she didn't know about? Questions for later. For right now, Lena needed to be decisive and not look like a slackjawed fool.

"I... uh, just recently got my ring," Lena said with an appropriate amount of vagueness, "But I'm not associated with the other... eight Green Lanterns, nor do I know where they are. It's a big universe, you know? But I'd love to work with Supergirl in the future. She is... quite the inspiration," she said while suppressing a blush.

"Interesting," the reporter then asked, "So what's next for you, Green Lantern? I assume tonight's big act of heroism is only the beginning."

"I...", Lena drawled. Is she really serious about becoming a real, genuine superhero? She's a Luthor. Luthors are business people, who are at best shrewd and underhanded. At worst, they're manipulative and power-mad supervillains. Can she really break the mold just like that? Can Lena be the hero that Kara is?

Lena then looked over to the boy she saved and his mother. They were staring at her with grateful eyes, and the boy... he knew exactly who she was and he accepted her as his hero regardless.

"This might be it," Lena thought. "This might be how I redeem my family's name."

Lena then looked at the reporter and said, "I don't know what the future may bring, but I'll start by catching whoever is responsible for this terrible bombing. I will protect this city from this monster and anyone else who wants to cause trouble for the rest of us. You have my word as the Green Lantern."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't think we could have GL Lena this soon, but here we are. Yay!
> 
> And yes. Earth-38 Thea is the Green Arrow if it wasn't that obvious. In this universe, she was the one who got stranded in Lian Yu after the cruise ship she was on was attacked by pirates during a freak storm. Moira would be killed in the attack, and Thea was tossed overboard. She would be joined by Emiko, who lost her parents in the attack as well. After five years in hell, Thea and Emiko survived and were transformed by the experience into badass archer ladies. They returned to Star City, started their mission to clean up the city as vigilantes, and Thea even managed to join the Justice League. As for how that all ended for Thea, well... that's a story for another day.
> 
> And yes, Thea and Lena were once a couple. They were high school sweethearts (in fact they were each other's closet key), and they picked up where they left off once Thea returned. However, they broke up a couple years into college, and Lena ended up getting together with Jack as per canon.
> 
> Why did Lena and Thea broke up? Well... I'm gonna keep that detail a secret too.
> 
> That's about all for now. Thanks for the read and have a nice day!


	4. Escalation

**The Next Day**

The morning sun shone on Lena Luthor once again. And again, Lena let out an irritated grumble in her half-awake state before getting up and rubbing her tired eyes. Once her vision became clear, Lena looked around to find that she was in her penthouse this time.

"Huh, that's new," Lena thought to herself.

Ever since the arrangement, Lena found herself at Kara's place more often than not. While they didn't spend every night making love to each other, Lena would often make up an excuse to sleep over at Kara's place, even if she had to sleep on the couch, so that her superheroine gal pal would always have a friend around should she need her. Thankfully, Kara was polite enough to indulge those requests to the point where Lena didn't even need to ask if she wanted to sleep over. However, that had the side-effect of Lena not really sleeping in her own home most of the time.

However, last night was... different, to say the least. After saving those people in the apartment, Lena flew back to her penthouse to brainstorm her next move. However, Lena then heard Kara land on her balcony. Not ready to reveal this secret just yet, Lena hastily hid her ring and her lantern (which mysterious materialized in her home) inside the closet.

Kara, in Supergirl regalia, then showed up in her balcony with a worried look in her eye. Lena could recall that meeting perfectly in her mind.

* * *

_"Lena! I heard about what happened?", Kara said as she walked over to her best friend and wrapped her in a warm embrace, "I'm so sorry. I should've seen that coming."_

_"I'm fine, Kara. Don't worry," Lena whispered into her ear, "Nothing happened."_

_"Nothing happened?", Kara said indignantly as she pulled away to say, "Lena, some psycho tried to blow you up with damn rocket launcher! I went over to the hospital. The rocket hit your room! You could've died tonight!"_

_"But I didn't," Lena said firmly, "I was... someone was watching over me."_

_"What? Who?"_

_Lena bit her lip anxiously. Kara was her best friend. If she could trust anyone with her new secret identity, it was her. However, Kara was in one of her overprotective moods right now, and frankly, everything was just too raw right now after the craziness of this night. Lena wasn't in the mood to be scolded by Kara about how fragile she was like she did to James when she found out he was Guardian. While she will tell Kara eventually, Lena decided that discretion was the better part of valor at the moment._

_Half-truths will have to do for now._

_"Green Lantern. She... protected me from the blast."_

_"Jessica Cruz protected you from the explosion?"_

_"Who?"_

_Kara shook her head and scolded herself for that slip-up. "Nevermind, but... last I heard, the female Green Lantern was in space with the rest of the Corps."_

_"Well, it was a new Green Lantern. I saw it in the news. After she saved my life and drove off my attacker, she flew over to a burning apartment building and saved the people inside."_

_"A burning building?", Kara clenched her long, blonde hair in frustration as she said, "How come I wasn't on top of that? Damn it! Have I been slipping up?"_

_With an empathic look in her eyes, Lena moved forward and grabbed Kara's arms in a firm, but calming manner. "Hey, listen to me, Kara. You're not slipping up. You've been exhausting yourself for these past two months with these nonstop Supergirl activities. This is a sign that you need some rest. Trust me, I know."_

_"Damn it, Lena," Kara said looking down in shame, "You could've died..."_

_"But I didn't. I promised you that you'd never lose me. Remember?"_

_"That won't always be your choice...", Kara pointed out at the verge of tears._

_"I promise to be more careful for now on, okay?", Lena said cupping her friend's cheek in a not so friendly manner._

_Kara shakily nodded as she wrapped her arms around her friend's waist and said, "Okay..."_

_"Should we... go back to your place?"_

_Kara shook her head. "Not right now. Your attacker is still out there, and I want you here where you're safe."_

_"Okay," Lena nodded back._

_"You seem... weirdly calm for someone who nearly died twice today."_

_Lena smirked and told Kara in a teasing tone, "Oh honey, you should know by now that I don't scare that easily. I'm a Luthor. This isn't the first time someone made an attempt on my life."_

_"Right," Kara said forcing a smile, "Always the fearless one."_

_"I can say the same thing about you," Lena said as she gazed into Kara's beautiful blue eyes. She then slid her hand down Kara's side, past her red skirt, before settling on Kara's stocking over her thigh. In a low tone of voice, Lena said, "I'm... glad I survived tonight."_

_Kara picked up on what Lena really meant. Blushing, Kara said, "I'm glad too..."_

_Lena then held Kara's chin firmly before going in for a deep and passionate kiss. Kara closed her eyes and kissed her back before using her superior strength to lift her lover up by her thighs. With Lena's lips all over her own and her hands roaming everywhere, Kara then floated off the ground before flying towards Lena's bedroom._

* * *

Lena blushed as the memories of the night she shared with Kara came to mind.

She looked over at her bed to find that Kara's gone. Lena sighed, "She must be out on patrol by now..."

Lena then got up and put on some clothes. She prepares her own breakfast (an omelette, three slices of bacon, and some English muffins with raspberry jam and butter) and set some food aside for her Russian Blue cat. While eating said breakfast on her coffee table, Lena turned on her TV. News about her heroics last night should still be circulating on the news. While Lena had a rather... difficult relationship with the media due to her family name, she was quite interested to see what they have to say about the new Green Lantern. So at the risk of inflating her ego as large as Lex's, Lena tuned in to Channel 52 and watched the female reporter (Susan Williams, she believes) break the news about the new Green Lantern.

_"Does National City have a new superhero in town? That's the question on everybody's minds after a woman with the powers of a Green Lantern saved a dozen civilians trapped on the top floor of a burning building. We later learned that she also saved Lena Luthor after an assassin fired a rocket to take out the CEO of L-Corp while she was recovering in the hospital. A real stand-up gal, right? Let's see what citizens on the ground have to say about the new Green Lantern."_

The TV then cut to Tamaranean woman Lena saved. _"She's a hero. She saved my life and the life of my son just like any Green Lantern would. This city should be proud to have one of them protecting it."_

The program then cut to the firefighter that Lena briefly talked with, _"Look, there's no doubt that this new Green Lantern wants to be a hero, but she's an amateur. I saw her crash into the side of this building like a distracted driver, and she nearly crushed one of my guys with rubble when she tried to save those civilians. Whoever she is, she's gonna need some more training if she seriously wants to be the city's new hero."_

"Harsh," Lena thought, "But fair enough."

The program then cut to a random civilian who Lena remembered talked trash about her outfit. _"Green Lantern? Yeah, she's pretty cool, I guess. She saved my life. But that outfit... yeesh! She needs to call a stylist or something, because she's basically a walking fashion disaster! I mean, a red shirt with a purple cape and green pants? Pick a color, lady!"_

Lena grimaced. "Well, I didn't have time redesign my uniform when I had to rush over to save your ass. Jerk."

The program then cut back to Susan Williams. _"Hero or amateur, Green Lantern has captured the attention of National City. For how long, no one can say for sure. The previous Green Lanterns were once hailed as heroes during their short tenures on this planet. However, one by one, each of these Lanterns left Earth behind to __attend to unknown matters in space. Only time will tell if this Green Lantern will be any different. But for the time being, it seems that we may have to get used to this Lantern for at least a little while longer."_

A recording of Lena's message last night then played._ "I don't know what the future may bring, but I'll start by catching whoever is responsible for this terrible bombing. I will protect this city from this monster and anyone else who wants to cause trouble for the rest of us. You have my word as the Green Lantern."_

_"We'll hold you to that, Green Lantern. Back to you, Katie."_

Lena ignored the weather report as she went over to the closet where she hid her gear and retrieved her ring. Putting it on, Lena then stared at the lantern, which was now laying there dormant.

"Why did the ring choose me?", Lena thought to herself. She recalled a news interview several years ago involving one of the Green Lanterns. The redhead with the big mouth. Guy Gardner, she thinks his name is. She remembered him saying that his ring chose him because it sensed that he can overcome great fear and that he was worthy to join the Green Lantern Corps. While Lena could see herself fitting that first description (she did have to face some terrifying threats in this year alone), she wondered how she fit in that last category. "I'm a Luthor. Luthors don't put on flashy outfits and save the day. We suppress our emotions and advance our selfish wants at the expense of others. Maybe the ring didn't know my family history, but... how am I worthy? I'm cold, and cynical, and... definitely not the hero Kara is. I killed Jack, and... I let Thea die thinking that I hated her. I'm no hero..."

_"It's never too late to be better, kid."_

Lena flinched at the sound of that voice. By now, she knew it came from... whatever that thing in her closet was. However, the voice was different this time. Instead of loud and booming, the voice was much softer and full of warmth. It was also very familiar somehow. Lena didn't understand these strange feelings, but she found them... refreshing.

"Perhaps this is a sign that I am in the right path," Lena muttered to herself before scoffing, "Great. This crazy ring is making me believe in signs. I better hope it doesn't compel me drink Koolaid."

But then Lena thought about the words said to her. 'It's never too late to be better'... it was something her mother, her real mother, used to tell her whenever Lena was ever down on herself. Lena recalled a memory when she was little where she was trying build the Disney castle with a set of Legos. But no matter how hard she tried, she could never completely finish it. She didn't have enough blocks. But then, her mother came in, told her that quote, and presented Lena with another box of Legos. And then Lena was able to finally build the Disney castle.

Feeling nostalgic, Lena smiled. It's been a while since she thought about her real mother. She didn't have a lot of memories of her, but what few she can recall she treasured. Lena almost forgot that particular memory.

"And I'm grateful that I didn't," Lena thought before her smile disappeared.

Her mind wandered back to the man she saw when the lantern first came to her. Lena focused on that blonde man in her mind's eye, and she recalled another childhood memory. Her mom used to tell her stories about her late grandfather and his heroics during the Second World War. She remembered seeing pictures of him in her old home. And that's when it clicked...

"It's him," Lena said her face lit up in epiphany, "My grandfather... Alan Scott. He wore this ring before me!"

As the gravity of this situation hit her entire being, Lena felt something fuzzy rub up against her leg. Looking down, Lena saw her cat sitting down and looking up at her curiously.

Smiling, Lena picked up the little critter and said, "How would like to help me solve this mystery, Dexter?"

Dexter let out a meow as if in agreement.

* * *

**Outer Space, Sector 2814**

Though the green light of willpower, Jessica and Aya fly through the void in two emerald trails of light. Aya flew ahead without an ounce of emotion on her face. She flew forward with focus, but Jessica flew distracted as she caught up to the robot Lantern. She looked at her partner with concern.

Ever since Aya found out about her dismissal from the Honor Guard, she has been more emotionless than usual. She barely talks, and the look in her eyes looked like that of someone who had died inside. Jessica saw how distraught Aya was when she broke the news, and Jess knew that Aya is repressing her sorrow.

Sighing, Jessica spoke up, "Simon and Kilowog wanted to throw you a farewell party, but you left too soon. I was barely able to catch up myself."

Aya was silent for a moment before saying, "The Guardians assigned me to this sector. As a loyal Green Lantern, I am obligated to patrol my sector as soon as I am able."

Looking at Aya with the utmost sympathy, Jessica said, "Reza convinced the Guardians to give you some free time before you actually had to go."

"I know that."

"So why didn't you..."

"I rather not celebrate my mistake," Aya told her bluntly.

Jessica sighed. "It's not a celebration, Aya. We just... we wanted to cheer you up. Have one last feast on our old ship. Maybe even grab some drinks and shoot the shit at New Warriors."

"That wouldn't make anything better," Aya said her sorrow breaking through her emotionless shell, "What I need... is redemption."

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows before realizing, "You're tracking down the Starheart."

"I've been tracking its energy trail ever since it escaped. I've narrowed its location to a planet in this sector."

"How convenient," Jessica said dryly.

"Indeed. It shall make this operation significantly easier when the object in question is already under my jurisdiction."

"Our jurisdiction," Jessica reminded.

"Of course," Aya hummed before saying, "Perhaps if I rectified my past mistake, the Guardians will reconsider my demotion. Make them see that I'm not... a waste of resources."

Aya's face curled as she continued trying to repress her emotions.

Jessica placed her hand on Aya's shoulder as she said, "You're not a waste, Aya. You're probably the most dedicated Green Lantern I know. You handle the light good too. You have value outside what the Guardians think. Remember that."

Aya veered to the left to get Jessica's hand off her. "I live to serve the Guardians as a Green Lantern. I have no other purpose."

Jessica looked on sadly before looking ahead. "You're wrong, you know. I hope you see that one day."

Aya ignored her as she slowed down her flight. "We are approaching our destination."

"So where have you dragged me to, partner? Please tell me the Starheart is in a tropical paradise planet. God knows I need a vacation."

"No. It is on a planet that should hold great significance to you," the two then stopped as a familiar blue planet came into view, "Earth."

Jessica grumbled, "Great... and here I thought I was free from the source of all my mental trauma. This is just... fantastic."

"You do not have to accompany me," Aya pointed out, "You could patrol elsewhere in the sector if you wish."

"Partners have each other's backs," Jessica said firmly, "If you're dead set in recovering the Starheart, then I'm gonna help you. That's non-negotiable. So where is this stupid thing?"

Aya then pointed to somewhere in the western coast of the North American continent. "I tracked it to the coordinates- 35.522 degrees north, 112.956 degrees west. However, I am unable to find a more precise location. The trail went cold from there."

Jessica ran the numbers in her more organic brain before she realized, "The Starheart's in National City."

"Are you familiar with that city?"

"Sorta. A friend of mine lives there. She might've noticed something."

"Then we must go to her at once," Aya asserted.

"Right," Jessica nodded warily before flying ahead, "Follow me."

* * *

**National City**

**DEO Headquarters**

Kara walks into the cortex in her Supergirl uniform as she approaches Alex and J'onn, who was standing up, and her friend, Winn, who was sitting down in front of a computer.

Kara asks, "So you guys checked out the device that I gave you last night?"

Winn responds, "Yeah. It took a little digging, but I this little gizmo that you handed to us is something called a digital sniffer. It's a device developed by the Applied Sciences Division of Merlyn-Dearden Industries that can actually soak up a large amount of data from any server regardless of encryption. It's... actually pretty amazing. We don't even have something like that. Where did you get this?"

"Some creep called my phone and told me that they left this sniffer device over at my apartment," Kara explained, "They said that the CEO of Ivo Labs ordered a hit on Lena. They wanted me to use the sniffer to get the evidence."

"Anthony Ivo ordered a hit on Lena?", Alex asked to which Kara nodded, "I heard that the guy was under investigation for participating in human trafficking, but it was never proven."

Winn remarked, "Which is code for he paid off the right people and covered it all up. That's always the case with these evil CEOs, right?"

"Ivo is certainly dangerous," Kara said before furrowing her brow with worry, "And if he has Lena on his crosshairs..."

"Before we jump to any conclusions," J'onn said before turning to Kara, "Where did you get this information? Who called you?"

Kara sighed. "Some guy calling themselves Prometheus."

"Prometheus?", Winn said before typing something into his computer.

Alex turned to him and asked, "Anyone you know, Winn?"

"By reputation," he explained, "He's a vigilante who used to operate in Star City alongside the Green Arrow and her team."

"Used to?", Alex asked.

"Yeah, he hasn't been seen ever since the Green Arrow died about a year ago. In fact, her entire team pretty much disbanded and retired after her death."

Kara winced at hearing Winn casually saying that the Green Arrow died, even if it was a different Green Arrow. While she knows that the Oliver she knows is alive and well on his Earth, it's still uncomfortable to hear a possible death for a friend of hers. And it doesn't help that Kara met her Earth's Green Arrow once before her untimely demise.

Winn then pulled up a bunch of pictures and news articles on his computer featuring Prometheus. In all these images, they depict a man in a black outfit and hood with a face mask resembling a nightmarish scarecrow. He was seen wielding swords, pistols, and even throwing stars, but not one of them had Prometheus use the weapon that one would expect a hero working under the Green Arrow would.

Kara asked, "Where's his bow?"

Winn explained, "He doesn't use one, which is strangely appropriate for a group called Team Arrow. Only two of them actually used a bow and arrow. Well, three, but only because that Tigress lady used a crossbow."

"How do you know this stuff?", Alex asked.

"What can I say? I love superheroes," Winn shrugged.

"You said this guy is retired?", J'onn asked, "So why is he reemerging now to target Anthony Ivo?"

"And why is he letting Kara do the work for him?", Alex added.

Winn shrugged again. "I dunno, but from what I can tell, he's one of the good guys. He might just want to lend a hand."

"If he just wanted to help, he would've actually tried to reach out," Alex said suspiciously, "Something's up."

"Well, whatever this Prometheus' deal is, Lena is clearly in danger. The assassin that Ivo sent has already tried to kill her twice," Kara said as she started to walk away.

Alex followed after her adoptive sister. "Where are you going?"

Kara stopped and answered, "To Ivo Labs. I'm gonna use this sniffer device."

Winn said, "The digital sniffer has a limited range. You have to actually plant the thing in the company servers, and I doubt they're just gonna let you in there."

"Then I'll just have to break in as Supergirl," Kara said bluntly.

Alex's eyes opened wide, "Are you insane?! You want to break into a private company to unlawfully extract data? Kara, you could get into serious trouble if you do that!"

"Not to mention that we have bigger priorities," J'onn explained, "National City apparently has a Green Lantern now. The Lanterns wield significant power, and we need to know if this one will become a threat later on."

"Someone is trying to kill my best friend!", Kara asserted, "I'm sorry, but putting the guy who placed a hit on her behind bars matters a whole lot more than some woman with a magic ring!"

"Look, Kara. I get it," J'onn tried to say calmly, "Lena's safety is important to you. But don't you think we should look into this new Green Lantern first? The Lanterns may be heroes, but they have been known to go bad. I should know, I fought alongside John Stewart against Sinestro. Shouldn't we..."

"She saved Lena's life, and she saved a bunch of people from a burning building," Kara told him, "That's good enough for me."

"Well... this is awkward," a new voice called out.

"Should we come back at another time?", another voice chimed in.

The four turned around to see Jessica Cruz and Aya suddenly standing inside the DEO.

Alex narrowed her eyes at the two Green Lanterns, specifically the human one, and murmured, "Jessica?"

However, just as Alex finished her whisper, all the other DEO agents near her pulled out their guns at the two intruders. The two Lanterns tensed up at this hostile display, and Aya was ready to charge her hand blasters at the first sign of trouble. Thankfully, Director J'onzz managed to intercede before things got messy.

"Stand down," he commanded, "They're friendlies."

As the nameless agents reluctantly holstered their weapons, Winn looked over to Alex and said, "Well, we wanted to find a Green Lantern. Now we have two."

Alex rolled her eyes at Winn's lame quip. Kara then walked up to the two and focused squarely on Jessica.

"Jess?", she asked almost not believing what she is seeing.

Jessica smiled at her, "Hey Kara. It's been a while, huh?"

Kara smiled back as she went in to hug Jessica. "It's so good to see you!"

"Wait Kara," Winn said before asking, "You know her?"

Kara pulled away and looked back on Winn. "Yeah. Everyone, this is Jessica Cruz. Earth's seventh Green Lantern."

"And how did you come to know one of the Green Lanterns?", Winn asked.

"We used to work together back when we were with the Titans," Kara answered.

"Wait, you were with the Titans?!", Winn exclaimed turning to Kara in shock, "When did that happen?!"

"I used to work with them part time. Where did you think I went off to when I disappeared every other week? Didn't I tell you?"

"I'm pretty sure I'd remember you telling me that you were in the freaking Titans!", Winn said before fangasming, "That's just... wow! Favorite superhero team! Hands down. Kara, I thought we were friends."

Kara ignored him asked Jessica, "What are you doing back on Earth? I thought the Guardians put you on space duty fulltime."

Jessica scratched the back of her head. "That's a bit of a long story."

J'onn looked over to Jessica's partner and spoke up, "Who's your friend?"

"My name is Aya," she said in an overwhelmingly formal tone, "I am the new Green Lantern assigned to Sector 2814."

"The Guardians put me back on sector duty," Jessica added, "I'm her partner."

J'onn asked, "Wait. You two are Sector 2814's Green Lanterns? What about that Green Lantern that showed up last night?"

Jessica raised her eyebrow. "What? No, the Guardians only assigned us to this sector. We only arrived just now."

"If that's the case," Alex chimed in her suspicion rising within her. "Then who was the woman calling herself Green Lantern last night? She had a green power ring and everything."

"Except her suit is colorful disaster. Not unlike your spiffy outfits," Winn added.

Something clicked in Aya's robotic mind as she looked over to Jessica. "This woman they're describing must be wielding the Starheart."

"That's the only logical explanation. I agree," Jessica nodded.

"What are you two talking about?", J'onn asked.

Jessica sighed. "To make a long story short, Aya and I were transporting something for the Guardians before we were assigned to this sector. It's called the Starheart."

"The Starheart?", J'onn said a little intrigued.

"You familiar with it?", Jessica asked.

"In passing," J'onn said evasively.

Alex chimed in, "Don't keep us in suspense, Jess. Tell us what this thing is."

Jessica continued, "Legend says that it is a special Green Lantern battery created by the Guardians to contain dangerous magical energies. To keep it from falling into the wrong hands, the Guardians trapped this lantern within the heart of a star, hence the name. However, that star went supernova a few thousand years ago, and the Starheart hasn't been seen by the Corps since."

Aya then added, "However, an archeological team in Frontier Space uncovered the Starheart a few days ago inside an asteroid. Green Lantern Cruz and I were tasked to transport the Starheart to Naltor for safe keeping, but we were ambushed," Aya looked down briefly in shame before saying, "In the fighting, the Starheart was lost."

"We tracked the Starheart here," Jessica picked up, "And since you mentioned that a woman with a power ring was spotted yesterday..."

"This new Green Lantern must have the Starheart," J'onn finished which Jessica responded to with a nod.

"We must secure the Starheart as soon as possible and take it away from this human before it could wreak any havoc," Aya stated bluntly.

"Why should we though?", Kara asked, "Whoever this new Green Lantern is, she is a hero."

"This false Green Lantern is meddling with powers she couldn't possibly understand," Aya rebuffed, "And the Starheart is the property of the Guardians of the Universe. Only they can contain and harness this power responsibly."

"I would point out the massive holes on that last statement, but I have better things to do," Kara said as she started to walk out.

Jessica stopped her and asked, "Better than containing a potentially dangerous magical threat?"

Kara sighed. "Someone is trying to kill my girlfri... best friend, and I have the means to save her. No offense to your duty, Jess, but that's more important to me right now."

Alex chimed in, "And we keep telling her that she can't just break into other people's property without consequence."

"Maybe we don't have to break inside," Jessica said pondering, "I say we do a compromise. I'll help Kara save her friend _without _breaking any laws. And Aya, you can help the DEO find the Starheart."

"Are you sure you should waste your time saving one life when there is a more urgent priority at hand?," Aya spoke insensitively, earning her a glare from Kara.

"Saving lives is never a waste of time, Aya," Jessica said before turning to Kara, "And I missed working with you."

"I suppose that's a fine enough arrangement," J'onn said.

"Don't do anything stupid, okay?", Alex said with a worried look in her eyes.

Kara sighed, releasing her anger. "I won't, Alex. I promise."

Jessica joked, "I'll be babysitting her. Don't worry."

Kara huffed playfully, "I don't need babysitting anymore. I'm a responsible and respected superhero now, Jess!"

"So you don't topple over food stands anymore when you sneeze?", Jessica teased.

"It was just that one time, and I got infected by alien allergens. Let it go," Kara said as she began flying out of the DEO, "Let's brainstorm in my place, okay?"

Jessica nodded with a smirk as she flew after Kara, "Right behind you."

* * *

Inside a cramped and filthy apartment room, Deadshot sat in front of a set of computers on a desk as he began addressing the two shadowy figures behind him. "I'm glad you two could make it. I usually prefer to handle my hits solo, but this is an... unusual case. I could use an assist."

Deadshot stood up and turned around to see the two figures step into the fritzy light. They were both women.

One was giant of a woman with pale skin and chiseled in the image of Amazonian beauty. She had long red hair, and she had on form-fitting, green body suit without sleeves to expose her muscled arms. The other woman was shorter and more tanned. She had short, brown hair with blue highlights, and she had on a similar body suit to her companion's only colored black and with steel trimmings and shoulder pads. She had on a pair bracers, each attached to two serrated blades.

These two women are Knockout and Scandal Savage, a duo of lethal assassins infamous around the supervillain community.

Knockout shrugged casually. "Sure. Why not? I'm always game with beating on a Green Lantern! Hehe...", she looked over to her shorter partner and asked, "What about you, beloved?"

More reserved, Scandal nodded and spoke with a noticeable Brazilian accent, "Just as long as we split the bounty three ways. I like you, Floyd, but my help isn't free."

"Then we're all in agreement then," Deadshot said.

"Yeah!", Knockout shouted enthusiastically as she slammed her fist into her hand, "Time to bag us a Green Lantern!"

"Our target is Lena Luthor," Deadshot corrected, "But yes, we need to take out this new Lantern first. She seems to be protecting our mark."

"I assume you have a plan for that?", Scandal asked.

Deadshot smirked as he reloaded his gun gauntlets. "Don't I always?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap!
> 
> The only worthwhile note that I'm willing to share here is that Lena's biological mother is indeed Jennifer-Lynn Hayden, AKA Jade. While Lena's mom is dead in canon, this AU will have different circumstances surrounding her death. All I will confirm for now is that Lena's mom did not simply drown in this AU.
> 
> That's about it for now. Thanks for the read and have a nice day.


	5. Fact Checking

For the past six hours, Lena was cooped up inside her penthouse. Her eyes had been glued to the screen of her laptop as she search the net for any scrap of information that she could find on the previous seven Green Lanterns. With only her trusty cat Dexter for company, Lena buckled down on her couch as she continued her single-minded search.

"I can only find out three of their real names," Lena mumbled to herself, "Guy Gardner and John Stewart, but only because they're the only Lanterns who didn't bother with secret identities. And Alan Scott, because... well, he's my grandfather. But there's absolutely nothing on the other five Green Lanterns besides their heroic deeds. Typical secret identity fare, plus they never stuck around long enough planetside. Though... I suppose their real lives are no concern to me."

Lena then looked at a photo of Green Lantern Jessica Cruz. Specifically, she stared at her ring. "The design of the rings are a more interesting note," Lena then pulled up the photos of all the other Lanterns except Alan Scott, "All six of these rings have a similar design. A circular head with a lantern imprinted inside. But grandpa's ring... my ring is different," Lena then held up her power ring and inspected it closely, "No circle on this one. Instead, an engraved lantern face. Grandpa was only one who had this design, so perhaps I should look at his life more closely instead."

Lena then spent the next half-hour going through her grandfather's information. "Alan Ladd Wellington Scott. Born 1908. Died October 11, 1993. Same day I was born. Weird," Lena muttered before silently reading for a few minutes, "He served in the Western Front in World War II as a member of a covert unit called the Justice Society of America. It was a secret initiative made up of metahuman operatives that answered directly to the president. His service file is still classified, but I know the truth. He was a Green Lantern. The first Green Lantern."

At that moment, Lena felt a twinge of pride glowing inside her chest. Lena hadn't felt familial pride ever since she was a child. Lex and Lillian's villainous legacies tainted that for her. Lena always feared that she will follow in their footsteps, but it seems that it wasn't the only legacy that she had laid out in front of her.

Lena then went through Alan Scott's history before the war. "Born in Capitol City, but raised in Gotham. Worked as an engineer for the Nodell Railway Company for almost a decade until he quit to work for Apex Broadcasting as a radio technician. An unusual career move. Though, working at a news station would help one better track criminals. So if that's the reason... then grandpa must have gotten the ring by then. If that's the case... when did you get it?", Lena then focused on the period of time before her grandfather's employment to Apex, "A railroad crash in 1938. Grandpa was the only one who survived when the bridge collapsed and the train dove down a cliff. The train was reported to have exploded. There was no way Grandpa could've survived that unless... that was the moment the ring chose him! It saved him from death... just like it did me."

Lena sat silently in her couch for a hot minute to process this revelation. She thought, "So that explains how grandpa got the ring. It even explains a bit on why it chose me. I was on the verge of death same as him. But... out of all the dying people in the world, why me? And what exactly is this ring?"

Lena stirred in her uncertainty for a minute until she felt her cat rub up against her leg and gave her a pleading meow.

She smiled down on him and said, "Okay. Okay. I'll get your food."

Putting her active mind on break, Lena got up and prepared a bowl of Meow Mix with some wet cat food mixed in. She laid the bowl out next to the fridge as Dexter began munching on his meal feverishly.

As she watched her cat lap up her food, Lena went to thinking again. "Agh, I won't be able to gleam any more info for the actually important questions until I can find out more about this ring! It's not like I can look this stuff up on Google. The only people who could give me the information I need are maybe the Green Lanterns, but they're all in space right now! Damn it!"

Sensing his master's anxiety, Dexter walked up to Lena's leg, rubbed his slim body against her ankle, before sitting down and looking up intently at the CEO. Calming back down again, Lena exhaled a troubled breath as she smiled and knelt down to pet her cat.

"You're right, Dex. You're right. An opportunity will present itself in time. I just need to be patient. In the mean time... I should probably test out what I can do with this ring. Find the true extent of its powers. Thankfully, I know just the place to do that in."

Lena got up and picked up her phone to call her driver. But while she was inputting his work phone number, she stopped and remembered that he died yesterday from Deadshot's attack.

"Poor Billy...", she sighed before put down her phone and went into her room. After a few minutes, Lena dressed up in her workout clothes (long-sleeved top, yoga pants, and sneakers), and grabbed her purse and put her phone inside. She walked over to her closet to find the Starheart still sitting dormant on the floor. She muttered to herself, "Based on Guy Gardner's interview with Catco, the rings need to be charged every 24 hours. I remember putting my ring over at the front lens and saying some kind of oath before feeling a rush of power, so... maybe that's it," apprehensively Lena placed her ringed fist over to the lantern, "How did it go again?", as if by magic the word's began appearing in her mind's eye, "Oh yeah... I shall shed my light over all evil, for the darkness cannot stand against the light. The light of... the Green Lantern!"

At the utterance of those words, the lantern flamed green as a pulse of green energy entered Lena's ring and filled her very being with purest courage.

Lena felt a rush of euphoria as she said to herself, "Damn... that's smoother than a glass of pinot noir! Hope this thing isn't habit forming..."

She then hid the lantern behind her rack of clothes before shutting the door and locking it as an added security measure. Lena then walked out of her room to grab one her car keys on the rack near her elevator, intending to drive herself. Before she could summon the elevator, however, she heard her phone buzz inside her purse.

Curious, Lena got out her phone and asked, "Who is this?"

_"Hey, Lena. It's Ollie."_

A smile graced Lena's face as she replied, "I didn't expect to hear from you today. I thought you'd be on your way to Star City by now."

_"Yeah, well, there's a situation going on at the Merlyn-Dearden branch in National City. You know how it is. I guess I'll be in town for a few more days."_

"That's good to know. Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?"

_"Well no. I'm actually here to talk to you about your new bodyguard. I'm sorry she's late, but..."_

"Wait. A bodyguard?", Lena asked raising her brow in confusion, "I don't remember anything about getting a new bodyguard."

_"Really? I thought you knew. Your board was worried about your safety, you know. A crazy assassin tried to kill you twice, so they reached out to me to find a solution to that problem."_

"Those vultures are worried for my safety?", Lena said doubtfully, "I didn't know they cared."

_"Well, they don't. But they see that their CEO being assassinated won't do the company any favors, especially after their last boss got 32 consecutive life sentences. L-Corp isn't exactly in the best shape for that kind of vacancy as you know. They wanted to ensure your safety, so they reached out to me. A_ _s your friend and one of your shareholders, I have an invested interest in your continued well-being."_

"I don't appreciate being assigned a babysitter without my knowing, Oliver," Lena said with a displeased scowl.

_"I know, and I'm sorry. They should've told you before coming to me for a recommendation."_

Lena sighed. "It's alright, Ollie. It's just... I'm a very private person, and today I really need my privacy."

_"Understandable."_

"I'll just send her away, if that's okay with you."

_"Yeah... I'm afraid it won't be that easy," _Oliver muttered nervously, _"Your new guard has orders to shadow you everywhere you go even if you send her off. She's also ex-special forces, so ditching her at all will be tricky."_

"Damn it!", Lena cursed softly, "I really don't need this today, Oliver! Can you just order her not to follow me?"

_"I'm afraid that's in the board's hands now. Sorry."_

Lena sighed more heavily. "Well... I guess I have to make due."

_"Are you mad at me?"_

"No... I'm not mad at you. I just... where's this bodyguard?"

_"She should be at the building by now. She would've come sooner, but she had a family emergency to attend to."_

"I was this close to missing her. Damn it!", Lena mumbled, "I have to go, Oliver."

_"Bye."_

Lena then hung up. With a tired sigh, she boarded the elevator and climbed down to the ground floor.

* * *

Once she made to the ground floor, Lena sighed in annoyance when she was met by a woman in her early thirties with long, auburn hair and wearing a two-piece suit and red tie. "This must be the bodyguard," Lena thought.

The bodyguard looked at Lena with a self-confident smirk as she walked up to her and said in a deep British accent, "Ms. Luthor, my name is Holly Granger. I work for Bowhunter Security, and I'll be your bodyguard from now on."

"I gathered," Lena said dryly.

"So where are you off to, Ms. Luthor?", Holly asked, "From your getup, I would guess that you're going off to the gym."

"I... suppose you can say that," Lena said with visible unease.

Holly nodded. "Alright then. Shall we head out?"

"I would rather go there alone. Spend some me-time, you know?"

"I understand, but my orders are to follow you everywhere you go," Holly mentioned bluntly, "I'm afraid that's non-negotiable."

"I don't need a babysitter," she responded bitterly.

"Too bad, you're stuck with me. If you have any complaints, I suggest you take it up with my employers."

Lena groaned. "I suppose so."

"I've been informed that your driver... passed away," Holly said rather awkwardly, "I could temporarily take over for him if you'd like, or you can call an Uber or something. I don't really care as long as I can keep you in sight."

Lena grimaced. All she wanted to do is tell this arrogant ex-soldier to piss off and go over to one of her cars. But she remembered that Holly was ordered to follow everywhere she go. Given what she knows of her, a woman of Holly Granger's skillset could be able to shadow her to her hideout and expose her secret.

And so, Lena decided to be patient for the moment.

She forced a smile and said, "I'd... appreciate it. Come, follow me to the garage. I'll show you to the car I want you to drive."

"Very well, Ms. Luthor," Holly said following behind her.

* * *

The two then set off an fancy green Lexus RX350. Holly, as the hired help, was on the driver's seat, while Lena sat in the back all by her lonesome. Holly was already made aware of Lena's favorite work-out joint, so she was already on her way.

As the two drove, Lena cleared her throat and asked, "So what do I call you?"

"Holly. Though if that's too familiar for your liking, I'd take Granger. Just don't call me 'Ms. Granger', or worse, 'Mrs. Granger'," she shuddered, "I'm not that old. At least, I hope I'm not..."

A minute passed with the two women not saying a word to each other as they drove. When the car stopped for a red light at the intersection, Lena broke the silence and asked, "Ollie tells me that you are ex-special forces. Given your accent, I assume you were with the British Army before moving into the private sector? Perhaps the Special Air Service?"

"You'd think that," Holly said chuckling, "But I was never with the British military. I moved to Star City from London when I was a teenager. My parents wanted me to have a cushy desk job at the company they worked for, but... that life was never meant for me. Needed more excitement, I guess. That's why enlisted with the Navy SEALs after high school."

"Interesting...", Lena said as her hand reached for something between the seats, "I'd like to know more about your service record, if you don't mind."

"You wanna know my qualifications, huh?", Holly said amused, "Well, I can't tell you much. Much of what my old squad did is classified, you see. But we've seen our fair share of action. More than our fair share, now that I think about. I dedicated five years of my life in the SEALs... then they kicked me out almost immediately after they found that I had been... involved with a female teammate. And one week before Don't Ask, Don't Tell was overruled too. Talk about shitty luck, right?"

"Uh huh...", Lena hummed absent-mindedly as she discretely put on a watch.

"Well, it's their loss," Holly said with bitterness flavoring her voice, "After they booted me out of the SEALs, I got picked up by a PMC. Deathstroke Paramilitary Services. Turns out mercenary work suited me better. Less rules, more pay. What's not to love?", Holly then looked away from the rearview mirror as a rush of nostalgic memories came into mind, "Of course, I obviously left DPS for a more... stable job. While I do miss the action, I think I made the right choice there. After all, I had to do right by my...", Holly's fond reminiscing was then spooked by loud honking from behind. She realized that the light had just went green. "Shit!"

Holly then drove through the intersection.

After a few minutes with both eyes on the road, Holly continued slightly blushing, "I suppose I got carried away there, huh? Look, I know this entire arrangement is a big inconvenience to you, Ms. Luthor, but rest assured, I will protect you from anything this city decides to throw at us. However, that means that my ability to keep you from harm will have to outweigh your comfort. I hope we have an accord," Holly drove for another few seconds as she waited for Lena's reply. However, when she was met with silence, Holly turned back to the rearview mirror and asked, "Ms. Luthor?"

However, all she was met with was an empty backseat.

"What the hell?!", Holly shouted panicked as she made a sharp right turn into a nearby parking lot. She almost ran over a lowly commuter as she put the car on brake and looked back to confirm that she was the only person in the car. "No! No! No!"

She killed the engines and stepped out of the car. Holly walked over to the edge of the parking lot as she looked over at the road she passed by. Despite her years of tracking experience, Holly couldn't find any sign of her charge on the street. It's like she just... disappeared.

"Damn it!", Holly cursed as she punched and dented a nearby railing out of frustration. After a few minutes of frustration cursing, Holly muttered, "I can't believe I just got Diggled! Fuck!"

* * *

In an advanced laboratory underneath an abandoned L-Corp foundry, a purple portal opened up and deposited Lena Luthor amid the work benches and science equipment. With a self-satisfied smirk, Lena placed her watch, which was in reality a miniature transmatter portal emitter, on a bench as she walked through her secret lab.

She has a number of these secret laboratories all over the country. Lena Luthor was a woman who always needed to be prepared for any occasion, especially with the more... heroic circles she has been running with lately. Lena had these labs built just in case she and Supergirl's team needed a place to crash in secret and operate out of should the need arises. When Lena first commissioned these labs, she thought that she would only ever need these to support Supergirl through an alien invasion or something as catastrophic.

"But now it's my own private DEO. My superhero hideout," Lena mused before looking at her ring, "Time to see what you can do."

* * *

**Nine Hours Later**

On the other side of the city, Supergirl and Green Lantern Jessica Cruz can be seen on top of a building across the street from the Ivo Labs building. After crafting their plan to the last detail, the two superheroines flew over this building and waited for their time to strike.

As they waited, Jessica eyed up Kara, who was exuding anxiety and hadn't taken her eyes off Ivo Labs. She told her, "You've certainly changed a lot since the last time we saw each other. You're a lot less... bubbly."

With her eyes still on Ivo Labs, Kara replied, "I had to fight off both Cadmus and the Daxamites this past year. I had to... harden myself in order to get through those experiences in one piece."

"You didn't have to when you stopped Myriad," Jessica pointed out.

"Well... one can only take so much before bending under the pressure."

Jessica looked at her old friend with concern. "What happened?", Kara remained silent, "You lost someone didn't you?"

Kara sighed. "I'm that easy to read, huh?"

"I just know loss," Jessica said briefly reflecting on her life, "I know how much losing someone you love hurts. It can take a lot out of you. So who did you lose?"

Kara stood silently for a moment as she bit her lip with uncertainty. She then spoke up, "His name is Mon-El. He is... was my boyfriend."

"Did he die?"

Kara shook her head. "I... had to send him away when I had to seed the atmosphere with lead to stop the Daxamite invasion. He can never come back here."

"That's rough. I'm sorry," Jessica spoke softly.

"The worst part is that I only have myself to blame," Kara said as she suppressed the tears welling up inside her, "I should've been stronger. I should've... I should've been able to find a way to stop the Daxamites without filling the atmosphere with lead. If I hadn't been so distracted, I...", Kara stopped to collect herself for a moment, "Maybe if I hadn't been distracted with being Kara Danvers, I would've been a better Supergirl."

"Kara... you shouldn't blame yourself for wanting a life outside the job."

"It's not about what I want," Kara countered, "It's about... it's about reality. For years now, I convinced myself that I could have a normal life. Even after becoming Supergirl, I foolishly thought that I could be happy pretending to be human. I thought I could have it all. But... the truth is that I'm not human, and I'll never be. Being Kara Danvers... it was a mistake. I should've realized that sooner."

"Being an alien doesn't preclude you from having a normal life."

"But being a hero does," Kara fired back firmly, "Look Jess, I know you're trying to make me feel better, but nothing you can say could ever convince me that Kara Danvers was anything other than a waste of time."

A tense silence then ensued between the two women.

But then Jessica let out a light laugh. "It's ironic, you know. We had the exact same conversation before only the situation was reversed."

"I don't see how that's relevant, Jess."

"A year ago, I convinced myself that being chosen by this ring meant that I could never have a normal life. You remember it, right? The Guardians had just offered me a position in the Honor Guard, and I was about to leave Earth behind. Leave my family and friends behind. But you convinced me to stay with the Titans. You told me that I don't have to throw everything away to pursue the greater good."

"And I seem to remember you eventually joining the Honor Guard anyway," Kara said with subdued anger, "After everything that happened with... the Titans, you left Earth so that you can focus on being a Green Lantern. So please, don't pretend what happening to me is any different."

Jessica looked down in shame. "I was wrong, you know. For leaving. I should've stayed and helped you and the old gang when you guys needed me the most. But I didn't. I was running away from my problems and... I should've done more. I know that now, and for that I'm truly sorry."

Kara stayed silent, unsure how to respond. Thankfully, a voice in their comms interrupted this tense moment.

_"Kara, I'm in position. Just waiting on you now."_

Kara answered, "I hear you, James," she then turned to Jessica, "You're up."

Jessica nodded as she walked towards the edge of the building. As she held up the fist where her ring was located, Jessica asked, "Is this reminding you of anything?"

"Yeah... San Francisco."

"You remember how that mission went down?"

"I rather not," Kara said disgruntled, "My arm still kinda hurts after your damn construct dislocated my shoulder."

"I had to make it look convincing," Jessica said fondly.

Kara rolled her eyes and asked, "So are you doing the same as before? Shirtless Michael Myers?"

"Actually, I have something a lot more scarier in mind," Jessica hummed in amusement as her power ring glowed.

Inside the lobby of the closed Ivo Labs building, a gathering of guards were scattered about doing their boring patrols. However, the monotony of the job was interrupted when they suddenly hear an eerily familiar song. It was faint at first, like a distant storm.

_Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me_

_I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed..._

Next to the front desk, a guard looked at his coworker in confusion. "Is that Smashmouth?"

_WELL! THE YEARS START COMING! AND THEY WON'T STOP COMING..._

The entire wall of the front door came down as familiar green ogre forcefully entered the building with a giant boombox slung over his shoulder. With a terrible shout, the ogre addressed the totally flummoxed guards, "WHAT ARE YOU DOIN' IN MA SWAMP?!"

"Shrek?!", the guard shouted in utter shock, "What the fuck?!"

It was then that the security guards pulled out their pistols to fire at the emerald ogre, but their bullets were having no effect.

'Shrek' put down his boombox and shouted. "I'M AN OGRE! AAAGGGHHH!"

Scared shitless, the guard and his partner hid behind the desk as he panicked into his radio. "We need backup in the lobby now! A giant ogre is attacking the building! Damn it! Bring in everyone!"

The guard's partner, who looked outright broken by this surreal situation, began madly chanting, "Shrek is love! Shrek is life! Shrek is love! Shrek is life!"

"Shut up, Brad!"

Back outside, Kara looked at Jessica with a cringeworthy look as she muttered, "Really Jess? Shrek? Are you being for real right now?"

"It's a good movie," she shrugged, "You wanted a distraction, right?"

Kara groaned as James spoke, _"Okay... that certainly did the trick. I'm on my way to the server room. Just keep doing... whatever it is you're doing."_

Jessica looked at Kara and smirked. "You're up, Supergirl."

"Right... off to 'save the day'," Kara mumbled, "Two years of doing this, and only now did things get straight up ridiculous."

"Better get to it, Girl of Steel."

"Right," Kara said before flying off towards Ivo Labs.

She sped over to the middle of the lobby in front of the Shrek construct. Relief spread over to the security guards who had to deal with mess.

"It's Supergirl! Thank God! We're saved!"

"Shrek is love! Shrek is life!"

"Damn it, Brad. Shut the hell up!"

Trying her best to act like she wasn't in on this, Kara placed hands on her hips as she stared at the green construct firmly and said, "I'm only gonna say this once. Leave now or suffer the consequences."

The construct responded by letting out a burp so strong that it managed blow away everything in front of it. Kara stood firmly in place like a rock, but her hair was whipped backwards by the vile winds and her nose was assault by a stench akin to a diseased rate crawling inside a filthy public toilet and dying.

Kara grimaced and screamed internally as the construct said, "Better out than in, I always say!"

Kara turned her head slightly and used her super vision to glare at Jessica, who was just having way too much fun with this. Under her breath, she muttered, "Goddamnit, Jess..."

* * *

While Jessica and Kara staked out Ivo Labs, Lena was practicing her powers in the training room of her secret hideout. After ending her latest training session, Lena, now in her Green Lantern uniform, sat down in a nearby bench. She picked up a bottle of water and waited around to catch her breath. Once that was done, she held up a recorder up to her mouth.

"After nine hours of training, I'm starting to get a better understanding of my new powers. The ring seems to be a conduit for the vast energy reserves found within the lantern. This green energy is unlike anything known to science. It's ten times more potent than gamma radiation yet it's completely benign health-wise and more malleable. To manipulate the energy of the ring properly, I must have a sharp focus and draw upon my willpower.

If I focus enough, I can conceivably create anything in my mind's eye. It doesn't particularly matter if I know how that thing is constructed either. I purposefully created a shotgun construct in trial five with the firing hammer misaligned to see if I can still fire it, and surely enough, I did. As long as I believe my constructs will do what I designed them to do, they should function the way I wish.

I also discovered that willpower determines the strength of these constructs. When subjected to certain stressors, I found that the strength of my constructs decreased by an average factor of thirty percent on trials where I reported to being afraid of things, such as the flamethrowers of trial fifty two to fifty four. However, for trials where I reported to be especially courageous, such as when I thought about my... grandfather's legacy in trial sixteen, I found that my power level increased by an average factor of around forty five percent.

As for my other abilities, I tested my flight speed and clocked in my top speed at around Mach 6. It honestly pales in comparison to Supergirl's top speed, but it could be worse. Additionally, I discovered that the ring coats my body with a protective aura automatically and without my prompting. After testing my aura, I found that it is impervious to most forms of harm, however, a high or concentrated enough force does give off a sizable dent to my armor. So while I can take a lot of punishment, I shouldn't overtax my shields. I am still human after all.

However, like the construct tests, I found out that willpower is the key for the effectiveness of these other powers as well. I hypothesize that if I can muster enough willpower, I could potentially do... well, anything! So far, the only limit that my ring seems to have are the ones my mind has placed. If I could find a way to clear these mental blocks... I could even be more powerful than Supergirl and Superman combined!

In any case, this ends today's training session. My ring's power reserves are starting to run low. I need to go back to my penthouse to charge it. Perhaps I could use these new insights to better myself as a hero, though I suppose I should start making the rounds first. See how my abilities fare in action."

Lena then put down her recorder and reverted back to her civilian persona. After closing her lab for the night, Lena placed her ring inside her purse before leaving her hideout. After taking the elevator up to the foundry, Lena walked through the admittedly spooky looking abandoned facility. Walking out into the sidewalk, Lena grabbed her phone and was ready to call an Uber. However, she was then spooked by an unexpected voice.

"My my, what's a nice bird like you doing at a place like this?"

Lena jumped before groaning in annoyance as she saw that the voice belonged to her bodyguard, Holly Granger. "Damn it! How did you find me?"

"Ex-Navy SEAL, remember?", Holly answered with a shit-eating grin, "Nice disappearing trick you pulled on me, boss, but can you do me a favor and don't pull that shite again? I'm trying to earn a paycheck here."

"Look," Lena said sternly, "I don't need a babysitter. I can handle myself fine, and I don't need you to infringe on my privacy."

"I'm just following orders, love. Nothing personal," Holly said shrugging, "I can personally think of better ways to spend my time than track your sorry arse across town, but I have a contract. If you have a complaint, take it to my employers but don't bitch about it to me, 'kay?"

"I don't like your tone," Lena said before relaxing, "But I suppose you have a point. So where did you park the car?"

Holly pointed, "Right around there. Come on."

The two then walked silently over to a parking lot next to an abandoned truck garage. As Holly unlocked the doors, she asked, "I know it's not my business, but what were you doing here?"

"You're right. It's not your business," Lena replied coldly. Holly rolled her eyes as she opened the door to the backseat for her boss. However...

BANG!

A bullet flew after the back of Lena's head. However, Holly saw the bullet coming and quickly tackled her charge to shove her out of the way. As a consequence, however, the bullet found itself lodged in Holly's shoulder.

Now on the ground, Lena looked at her squirming and groaning bodyguard. Lena's eyes widened in shock. "Holly!"

"I wouldn't worry about her, Princess," Lena then turned around to see Deadshot aiming one of his gauntlet guns at her with Knockout and Scandal Savage standing beside him. "Because we plan to do a lot worse to you!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another week, another chapter.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and love the direction this story is going. There's a lot of stuff that I wanna show off to you guys in future chapters, but it sucks that there's only so much time. Ah well, at least I got to introduce Holly Granger in this chapter.
> 
> For those of you who don't know, Holly Granger is the sister of Dawn Granger, who you may know as Dove from the Titans show. In the comics, she is the second person to become Hawk, or at least she was before she got killed off in Blackest Night and was replaced with a resurrected Hank Hall.
> 
> I may not be the most familiar with Holly, but even I know that it's a waste to kill off a character, especially one with a potentially interesting background and relationship with a long-lost sister, when you can build something interesting out of her instead. I mean, I understand why DC wanted to bring back Hank Hall. From what I seen in Titans, he's a good character to bring back. But you didn't have to kill Holly off and shortchange her character, DC! You could've just made her get another identity and build an interesting dynamic between her, Hank, and Dawn as like a partner to Hawk and Dove but has a rivalry with Hank as she sees herself as Dawn's true partner or something like that. Seriously, I'll never understand the comic book industry's need to revert to a status quo on stuff like this.
> 
> But enough about that. I admit, I initially didn't care for Holly. I initially placed her name on a draft for who I want to be on the Titans mainly because I wanted to do an alternate Hawk and Dove from the Titans show with either Cassandra Cain or Earth-1 Rory Reagan as Dove. I initially found her to be as disposable as DC viewed her, and she really only lasted as long as she did because I liked her costume. But after thinking about it for a while, I somehow managed to craft a backstory that I love for the character. As I developed this backstory, her character in general, and her relationships, I fell in love with Holly and knew that I wanted her in this series. And that's why Holly Granger is here. Admittedly, I initially wrote in that Slade Wilson was Lena's bodyguard, but since I wanna build to the Titans in this story, I better introduce one of its more interesting members as soon as possible.
> 
> Speaking of Slade, he's still a member of Bowhunter Security even in this draft. I will confirm that he was on Lian Yu with Thea and Emiko in this universe only he didn't turn on them. Slade managed to get off the island with both eyes and remain on friendly terms with the future Green Arrow.
> 
> Also, I wanna confirm that Lena's last name before being adopted by the Luthors in this AU is Hayden like her mother. So she was Lena Hayden pre-adoption. Not sure if this is plot-relevant, but it's neat fun fact.
> 
> That's about it for now. Thanks for the read and have a nice day.


	6. Showdown (Part 1)

_She feels a chill run down her proverbial spine. An overwhelming sense of dread that overtook her very being. She sensed the end coming. It was close._

_Was this what fear feels like?_

_Is she... is she dying here? Like this?_

_"Destroy you? I wouldn't dream of it. I'm just deleting all your higher functions, so that you'll behave like a proper nav-computer."_

_Her words were callous, cold, and cruel by every sense of the word. This was worse than death. This was... hell._

_She doesn't want to be reduced to that, a mindless computer serving a depraved master. In her short time alive, she felt more than just a tool to be used. She was a person. She tasted the freedom that came by travelling the stars. The companionship from people who valued her as a person. And also... love. Strange, yet wonderful feelings for a man she grew to care about._

_And now all of that is going to just end? Like this? It wasn't fair..._

_"Say goodbye, my puppet."_

_"No! No! Not like this! Not like this! Hal! Razer! Someone! Help me!"_

* * *

"STOP!", Aya yelled. She slowly opened her blue eyes and settled back into reality. She was in the DEO- in space the 'Winn' human designated as the training room.

She was alone again. Safe.

In front of Aya was a hologram of her adoptive mother, Reza, who was calling her all the way from Oa. With a worried look on her face, Reza asked Aya, _"Are you alright, my dear?"_

"Cognitive functions... scrambled," Aya mouthed out struggling to form words amid the chaos in her mind, "Running the memory file made it hard to... to form higher thought processes. Am I... infected? Virus?"

Reza checked the data on her pad and shook her head. _"I'm afraid not. Your software's as sterile as one of our science labs. No malware at all."_

"Then what is causing this... systems malfunction? I feel a pressure in my chest... that shouldn't be possible," Aya said with much unease.

_"Whatever the issue is, it's not in the physical. Perhaps this is more of a... mental problem."_

"Mental?"

_"What you're going through... the flashbacks, the panic attacks, all that. They all seem to be symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder."_

Aya shook her head. "That is not possible."

_"In theory, anything with emotions can experience PTSD. Even artificial beings."_

"Say that your theory is correct. What could cause this PTSD that you propose? I do not recall these... memories. They feel like they belong to someone else. How did they even get there to begin with?"

_"You said this all started with that deceased Yellow Lantern. What was her name again? Drusa?", _Aya instinctively winced at the sound of that name. Reza sighed sympathetically. _"That name still gives you pause. You knew her before the mission, didn't you?"_

"I... I don't know...", Aya remained silent for a moment, "Ever since I returned from Frontier Space, I see her in my mind's eye all the time. In the periphery of my vision, and... when I'm in sleep mode. Every time I see her face, I feel... fear. I feel small. Weak. Like she could harm me at any time. How is that possible?"

Reza stared at her daughter solemnly for a moment. _"It sounds like you went through a very traumatic experience before we found you. Perhaps more than one."_

"That is... not reassuring," Aya then drifted off in thought for a moment before composing herself again, "When the memory played, I thought about Green Lantern Hal Jordan for a moment. Perhaps he... he knew me from that time before."

_"Lantern Jordan?", _Reza piped up curiously, _"How odd. He never once told us about meeting a robot like you when we found you. But then again, he was always a rebellious one. I will make sure to talk to him the next time he stops by Oa. Perhaps my rank will make reveal some important information."_

"Thank you," Aya then thought about the other name... and the pale, handsome face that belonged to it, "I would also like to ask you about another name, if it's not too much trouble."

_"Anything."_

"His name is Razer," Aya felt a small twinge of warmth in her heart (or core), "He's from a planet in the Forgotten Zone called Volkreg. I think... I think knew him in my... in my other life."

_"Cared how?"_

Aya looked down hesitantly before speaking up, "I think I loved him."

_"I see," _Reza smiled, _"I'll get back to you when I can. Good luck in your mission, Aya."_

"Acknowledged. And thank you... mother."

Reza nodded back as the call ended and her image dissipated. Aya was left alone in the training room for a second before Alex entered the room.

The DEO agent looked at Aya and asked her, "Where have you been? I thought you were helping Winn find the new Green Lantern."

"I had a... personal matter to attend to. In private."

"If you wanted some privacy, then you should've told me or Director J'onzz first. You are a guest of the DEO. There are protocols, you know?"

"I apologize then, if I offended."

Alex sighed. "Just don't let it happen again, okay? You're a member of an alien police force. You make a lot of people here nervous. It would make our day a whole lot easier if you played by our rules."

"Acknowledged."

"So... what were you doing in here?", Alex asked.

"Making a call," Aya answered simply, "To my mother."

"You have a mom?", Alex asked surprised.

"Doesn't everyone?"

"I... suppose," Alex muttered not sure if the android was just toying with her just now.

Winn then spoke over the intercom._ "Hey guys! We got a hit! Better get here fast before this Lantern decides to ditch Earth, haha!"_

"Duty calls," Alex hummed.

"So it would seem," Aya said as she started to walk out the training room with Alex close behind her.

* * *

Aya and Alex entered the DEO Cortex to find J'onn J'onzz and Winn sitting on one of the monitors.

With her usual professionalism on display, Alex asked Winn, "Where's our new Green Lantern?"

"Near an abandoned Luther Corp factory at 5th and Volpe."

Aya asked, "How were you able to trace the energy of the Starheart without having access to the right energy frequency?"

"You said that the Starheart derived from the same technology that you Green Lanterns used, right? So after hours a calculations from the energy sample that our resident Green Lantern provided, thank you very much BTW, I created an algorithm that can pinpoint the source of any energy flare within a specific frequency range. The rest, as they say, is history."

"You displayed an impressive amount of ingenuity, Winslow Schott... for a human," Aya commented.

"Thanks... I think," Winn said scrunching his face a bit.

"I will head out to those coordinates at once," Aya said as she began to back away from the Cortex.

"What exactly do you plan to do to the new Green Lantern once you find her?", J'onn asked.

"I will take the Starheart from her... by any means necessary."

Alex tried to object, "Don't you think we should...", Aya abruptly flew out the window before she could finish that sentence, "And she's gone."

"Yeah... I got bad vibes about that bot," Winn said awkwardly, "And I'm not really fine with just taking a Lantern's power ring without asking first."

"And we won't," J'onn said following as he began to walk too, "We only agreed to find this new Green Lantern, not take away her powers without just cause. With Supergirl away, I'll be sure to rein her in."

"Aya looked dead set to take the ring," Alex pointed.

"Like T-1000 determined," Winn added.

"If she doesn't back down... are you really prepared to fight a Green Lantern all by yourself?", Alex asked concerned.

"If that's what it takes. I won't let Aya hurt this new Green Lantern if she really wants to help," J'onn before mustering a confident smile, "Besides. I once took on Hal Jordan himself before he left Earth, and I won that fight. I can take Aya."

Alex nodded. "Good luck sir."

J'onn nodded back as he used his own powers to fly after Aya.

* * *

Flying high into the night sky, Aya stared ahead with grim determination as she raced towards the location marked in her HUD's mini-map. She flew at her course with a single-minded focus while trying to suppress the emotions that had tormented her recently.

_"Aya... please... don't go," _a pained male voice rang inside her head, _"I love you, Aya! I love you!"_

"Razer...", Aya whispered longingly as her emotionless facade began to break.

"Something on your mind?", J'onn said as he by next to her. Aya's face returned to its natural, emotionless state as she glared at J'onn. The Martian couldn't read her mind due to Aya's robotic nature, but he could tell that she wasn't happy to see him. "Don't be alarmed. I'm Director J'onzz from the DEO. I used to not telling people this, but I'm a Martian."

"I know," Aya stated as she looked dead ahead, "I detected your transient mass flux the moment I saw you. A mass flux consistent with a shapeshifter. Given this planet's proximity to your homeworld among other factors, I calculated a 77.562 percent probability of you being of the Martian race."

"Impressive," J'onn said in a low hum.

"However, I must admit. I am surprised," Aya said with her voice continuing its usual monotone, "I initially concluded that you were a White Martian given that the Green race had long since died out."

J'onn felt a sting in his heart upon hearing that. However, he hid his sorrow and said, "We're not all dead yet."

"You are the last of the Green Martians," Aya assumed.

J'onn sighed. "You are correct."

"My condolences."

"Thank you," J'onn replied before asking, "You were talking to yourself. Would you mind telling me what?"

"Yes, I would mind," Aya spoke defensively.

"I heard a name. Razer," J'onn said causing Aya to shrink away anxiously, "Is that a name we should be concerned about?"

"... No," Aya composed herself again before asking J'onn, "Are you here to stop me?"

"What if I am?", he answered back coyly.

"I would be forced to categorize you as an enemy and use whatever means necessary to neutralize you in order to achieve my goal," Aya spoke as a matter of fact.

"That seems a little extreme."

"Nothing will stop me from completing my mission," Aya spoke coldly, "It's simply how I'm programmed."

"Programmed, huh?", J'onn spoke doubtfully, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but programmed beings don't usual say someone's name with a distinct longing in their voice. I doubt the Guardians programmed you that way. After all, love and emotions are illogical."

Aya kept her cool despite the growing irritation welling up inside her, another negative emotion caused by this malfunction. "What is your point?"

"My point is that I know that you are more than just your programming," J'onn spoke, "You wield the green light of willpower."

"So did the Manhunters," Aya shot back.

"But to them it's an energy source," J'onn pointed out, "I've been around Hal and John long enough to know that truly harnessing the light of willpower requires a soul. A determination that stems from inner strength. That is not a trait that one can simply program."

"Are you implying that you wish for me to defy my programming?", Aya asked in a rather accusatory fashion.

"I'm telling you to listen to your conscience, not the dogma the Guardians forced on you. You don't know yet that this new Green Lantern is a threat."

"Without the instruction of the Guardians, this false Green Lantern will inevitably either lose control of her powers or get corrupted by it."

"The 'instruction of the Guardians' didn't stop Sinestro from enslaving his home planet or forming the Yellow Lanterns," J'onn said before letting out a frustrated sigh, "This Green Lantern saved the lives of innocent civilians trapped inside a burning building. She's earned a chance to prove herself. Like all the other Green Lanterns that came before her. Like you."

Aya fell silent. She didn't look it, but J'onn's words really got to her. His last line made Aya recall memories of her forgotten past. To a time where Aya had yet to prove herself...

* * *

_"It was dangerous to up and leave your post," Hal told her, "We need to set a few parameters, young lady."_

_Was it patronizing? A little, but Aya can understand where Green Lantern Hal was coming from._

_She had violated protocol and transferred her consciousness into a small group of bug bots. She left the ship in the slim chance that her plan to restart the engine of the downed freighter they had been rescuing from a pinhole would even work._

_It was illogical._

_It was dangerously reckless._

_And it was the right thing to do._

_"A Green Lantern protects innocent life, even at the cost of their own. Correct?", Aya replied._

_"Wait a minute," Sergeant Kilowog sounded, "Aya, you do understand that you're a navcom and not a Green Lantern, right? You can't be a GL."_

_"Why not?", Aya asked. It was a logical question. Why can't an artificial intelligence perform the duties of a Green Lantern? If anything, she could be more effective than her organic counterparts given her unique abilities and superior processing power._

_"Well, first off, the ring's gotta choose you."_

_"Why?," Aya asked knowing that her body, the very ship she was installed in, is more than comparable to a power ring. In fact, it can output almost a hundred times more green energy than a standard power ring._

_Kilowog groaned and turned to Hal. "Help me out here."_

_"Oh no, I wanna hear this," Hal replied with his usual cavalier attitude._

_An increasingly desperate Kilowog then turned to... her Razer. "Red?"_

_"Leave me out of this," Razer replied. Even disinterested, Razer looked so... aesthetically pleasing._

_Looking back at Aya, Kilowog continued to argue, "Look, Green Lanterns positively got to have a physical body to walk around and interact with people, not a bunch of creepy bugs."_

_So that was the difference between her and a Green Lantern, Aya thought. Time to rectify that shortcoming._

_"Parameters set," Aya said before using the bug bots she used before to construct a mobile platform for herself. The robot body that she herself has used well into the present day._

* * *

"Green Lantern Aya. Aya!", J'onn shouted shaking the arm of a distracted Aya.

Aya broke from her trance to look at J'onn, who was now just levitating in the air as she was, as she asked, "How... what happened?"

"You flew off-course away from the coordinates Winn set," J'onn informed with a look of concern, "Are you alright?"

Aya looked uneasy, still shaking off the cocktail of emotions building inside her. She has never met Green Lantern Hal Jordan before, yet here she was remembering him as if he was an old friend. And Razer... why would a man she doesn't recall fill her core with so much... warmth.

Nothing about this makes sense.

Aya struggled to regain her composure as she said, "I'm fine," she then reoriented herself to where the destination should be, "And as for your request, I will... reserve judgment until I see this false... new Green Lantern for myself. If I find her performance as a Lantern to be... sufficient, I will consider leaving the Starheart to her."

J'onn smiled. "That's all I ask."

Aya let out a sound that resembled an anxious groan as she looked back at J'onn briefly before flying off to their destination. J'onn followed closely behind now, a little surprised at the robot's change of heart and a little hopeful for the outcome of this encounter.

* * *

Aya and J'onn begin their descent towards the destination that Winn gave them. As they neared their target, a rundown parking lot it seems, the two saw a rather distressing sight.

Three bodies laying flat on the ground.

At one of these bodies, a woman was being hovered by a conscious woman, a redhead wearing a tux with a big red stain on her shoulder. The two flyers observed the woman gritting her teeth as she pressed her hand on the unconscious woman's gut with a rag.

J'onn narrowed her eyes at the scene and said, "What the hell is going on?"

The two aliens then touched down behind the two women. The conscious woman heard the two land, and out of instinct, she quickly stood up and turned around.

She brought out a pistol from her vest holster and shouted at them, "Who the hell are you? Stay back!"

Aya tensed up and charged her hand blasters in response to this threat. Thankfully, J'onn extended his arm in front of the Green Lantern to prevent her from escalating the conflict.

Aya reluctantly lowered her hands as J'onn said, "We're not here to hurt you."

"Says the big green boogeyman," the British woman snarked with her gun still up.

"Your primitive gunpowder firearm would be ineffective against either of us," Aya told the human.

"I happen to have a lot of tricks up my sleeve," she shot back.

J'onn narrowed his eyes on Holly Granger for a second before saying, "You're Lena Luthor's bodyguard- Holly Granger. Lena, she... she's hurt, isn't she?"

"How do you know that?", Holly said scowling at the tall green man.

"I'm a friend of Lena's," J'onn said before transforming into his human form, "My name is J'onn J'onzz. I'm with..."

"The DEO," Holly interrupted as she holstered her weapon and beckoned the two to come near, "Ms. Luthor is hurt."

The two aliens walked over to find Lena unconscious and bleeding heavily around her abdomen.

"What happened?", J'onn asked as he applied pressure to the rag Holly pressed on Lena's wound.

Holly shrugged, her nonchalant attitude betraying the panic inside her. "It's a bit of a story, that one," her face then warped to that of seriousness, "She needs medical treatment. Now."

"The DEO is close. I'll fly her there," J'onn said carrying Lena's unconscious form.

Aya stood back and observed Lena while this entire exchange occurred. One of the first things she noticed was the green ring on Lena's finger, the power ring that's nothing like the rings the Corps uses.

Aya called out, "Wait. Director J'onzz, look. The ring."

J'onn turned his eyes to the ring on Lena's right ring finger. He quickly came to the same conclusion as Aya as he said, "Lena's the new Green Lantern."

"And she's going to be a dead Green Lantern if we don't move now!", Holly shouted reminding the two to get their priorities straight.

Aya turned to the two remaining bodies on the ground and asked, "What about them?"

Holly took a quick glance at them and sighed.

* * *

**45 Minutes Earlier**

"You're the one who's trying to kill me!", Lena said staring down Floyd Lawton, who was with his partners, Scandal Savage and Knockout.

"The name's Deadshot," he said pointing his gun gauntlet at her, "And I'm hired to put you down. Nothing personal, sweetheart. It's just business."

Knockout scanned her immediately surroundings and asked, "Where's the new Green Lantern? I thought you said she was protecting her, Floyd?"

"She must've gone on a smoke break," Deadshot guessed, "Lucky us."

"Don't go thinking that you can deny our share just because the Lantern was a no-show," Scandal said with a slightly threatening glint in her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," Deadshot said with a twinge of regret in his voice, "Alright. Time to pop this bitch. Who wants the honor?"

"I do," Knockout said as she crept closer to Lena and Holly with a sadistic grin on her face, "I've worked myself up all night to tangle with a Green Lantern, and she's wussed out. I need to kill something, dammit!"

"All yours then," Floyd said lowering his gun gauntlets.

Knockout cracked her knuckles in front of the two women. With a dark chuckle, she asked, "Any last words?"

Lena whispered to her bodyguard, "I have a... weapon in my pocket. When I yell out..."

"Ugh, don't bother, love," Holly said as she removed the bullet in her shoulder, "I've got this."

"You have a pistol and a bullet wound," Lena pointed out, "And these guys are actual supervillains. In what sense of the phrase have you 'got this'?"

"Former Navy SEAL, remember? I'm always prepared," Holly then sat up and looked at Knockout. She nudged her head to the side as she said, "Discount Wonder Woman. Look over there."

"Seriously? You'd think I...", Knockout started to say as she briefly rolled her eyes over to where Holly was pointing at without thinking. This, of course, proved to be a grievous mistake. Almost instantly, Knockout fell into a trance. Her face turned blank as she just stared off into the direction she was looking at.

After a few seconds pass, Deadshot told her impatiently, "Kay? Any day now."

The more perceptive Scandal sensed something was amiss. Cautiously, Scandal approached Knockout and called out, "Meu amor? What are you waiting for-"

WHACK!

Without warning, Knockout quickly turned and backhanded her lover. The superhuman strike sent Scandal flying before crashing down in cold, hard asphalt.

Startled, Deadshot cursed, "What the hell?! What's the matter with... woah!"

Deadshot was then tackled by Knockout, who carried the marksman a few meters out from the two women before pinning him to the ground.

As the villains squirmed on the ground, Lena turned to Holly in shock as she asked, "What the hell just happened?!"

With a prideful smirk, Holly announced, "My partner happened."

With his cue called, a young Asian man with long, black hair and mutton chops stepped into the moonlight next to Holly and Lena. The young man looked at Lena and gave her a welcoming smile as he said, "Ms. Luthor! Name's Jericho. Metahuman, vigilante, and babysitter to one hotheaded Brit with an ego bigger than her actual skill level."

"I have thirty five confirmed kills and over a dozen successful missions that says otherwise, kid," Holly teased back.

"Is that why you got jumped, took a bullet in the arm, and needed me to bail your ass out?", Jericho remarked turned back to Holly.

"I'm back up, aren't I?", Holly whined, "I'd like to see you try to power through a bloody bullet hole."

"I wouldn't have gotten shot in the first place," Jericho said smirking.

"Ha, and you call me arrogant," Holly said dismissively.

Jericho shrugged. "Never said I wasn't."

Lena scoffed and stood up. "I don't think now is the best time to have a lighthearted chat when the three supervillains in front of us are getting back up!"

As Lena said, Deadshot, Knockout, and Scandal Savage got up from the beating Jericho caused.

Knockout clutched her head with one hand, apparently suffering a headache, as she growled angrily, "Mind control... gah, how annoying."

"More like possession," Jericho explained rather lightheartedly, "I hopped into you body and took it over for a bit. And, hehe, wow. I've never been that tall before. I kinda feel dizzy actually."

"Well, you won't be doing it again!", Deadshot yelled as he pulled up his gun gauntlets.

"You're right, because we'll kick your arses ourselves this time!", Holly proclaimed before turning to Jericho, "You ready, kid?"

With an eager smirk, Jericho said, "As always."

"Hawk!"

"Dove!"

Upon saying those words, the two transformed in a brilliant display of red and blue light respectively. Once the light show was over, Holly and Jericho were transformed out of their civilian clothes and into much more colorful and powerful forms.

Holly now wore a white and red unifrom with a red domino mask, red boots, and red gloves with sharp talons at her fingers. On her back was a pair of segmented red wings that were folded together like a cape. Jericho, on the other hand, had on a blue and white uniform with a small, rounded cape on his back that was layered with white feathers. Over his head was a white and blue cowl that is shaped to resemble the top half of a bird's head.

Lena gasped in shock at the realization that her bodyguard was apparently a superhero. Once more, she realized that Holly Granger was one half of the crimefighting duo... "Hawk and Dove!", she called.

Smirking, Holly replied, "Surprise. Does this mean I get a raise?"

"This is not about the money, Holly," Jericho said somewhat in a scolding manner.

"What? Everyone's gotta make a living," Holly shrugged, "Plus metahuman bodyguards are rare and valuable. It's basic supply and demand, Joey."

Across from them, Deadshot groaned, "Come on! How many more protectors does this bitch have?!"

Knockout was more curious if anything as she squinted at the two heroes and asked, "I thought Dove was supposed to be the woman and Hawk was the man?"

"That's the old Hawk and Dove, amor," Scandal informed her, "This is the new Hawk and Dove. Apparently, the old pair retired."

"I. Don't. Care!", Deadshot screamed, "I am sick of all these lazy-ass, copy and paste legacy heroes interrupting my score! I mean seriously! Find your own gimmick, guys!"

"Well, I was always fond of 'Swan and Condor' myself," Holly mused.

"Those names are already taken," Jericho said, "By terrorists."

Holly sighed. "Never mind then."

"Why is this a conversation?", Lena mumbled to herself.

"Bah! Let's just get this over with already!", Deadshot said as he pulled out a grenade, pulled the pin, and threw it at the trio.

However, before the deadly explosive even touched the ground, Holly rushed up and grabbed it out of the air. She then enclosed the grenade between her palms as it exploded. The explosion flared up like a weak lighter before smoke started float out of Holly's hands. When she unclasped her hands, Holly brushed off the ash and shrapnel that used to be a functioning grenade.

"Heh, that tickles," Holly joked.

"That ain't right...", Deadshot mumbled still surprised by how bad his luck can get.

"My turn," Jericho said before rushing at Deadshot with his flight powers. Before anyone could react, Jericho tackled Deadshot before taking him up into the air.

Scandal stared at the two flying and scowled. "Damn it!", she said before pulling out a pistol.

"Don't take your eye off the ball, love," Holly said before grabbing Scandal's wrist and crushing it with her insane strength and making her drop her gun, "You still got me to play with."

"Get off of her, you bitch!", Knockout yelled before sucker punching the side of Holly's torso, sending her flying.

"Gah!", she screamed.

Despite her codename, Holly Granger can't fly. It's rather strange as hawks are not flightless birds, but Holly didn't pick it, and she has to make due with what she's got. Holly quickly recollected herself in the air before landing on her feet.

Meanwhile, Knockout was tending to her injured lover like a doting lioness. After Scandal nodded to confirm that she's alright, the two turned to Hawk and glared daggers at her. Holly simply replied with a smirk.

"Bring it on," Holly mumbled under her breath in anticipation. However, it was then that she remembered that Lena was still on the battlefield. Sighing, Holly looked over to her employer and said, "Boss! I think it's about time you pissed off!"

"R-Right!" Lena replied still processing the volume of surprises that has happened to her in the past few minutes. Quickly, she scrambled into her car before driving away.

"There goes our mark...", Scandal said grimacing.

"Who cares. We can kill that Luthor bitch later," Knockout said before smiling like a madwoman, "We got some D-list superheroes to destroy!"

"Then we better get to it," Scandal said before unsheathing her gauntlet blades.

Holly responded to this by grinning confidently before beckoning the two to come at her.

* * *

Lena drove for over a mile before coming into a complete stop in front of an abandoned warehouse. Lena gritted her teeth as she scolded herself internally. Tonight was not supposed to turn out this way.

"I should've been more prepared!", she thought, "How could I let myself be ambushed like that? I should've remembered that I have a price on my head! If it wasn't for Holly...", Lena winced at the thought of her being alone with the three assassins, "I need to be better than this if I am to become a proper hero. Surely Kara wouldn't have let herself get stuck in this situation," Lena then took out her ring, "Now I'm low on power and letting others fight my battles for me. Pathetic...", Lena then frowned as she asked herself, "What am I supposed to do now?"

Surely the famous Hawk and Dove can handle a trio of super assassins, right? However, it was a matter of principle for Lena.

All her life, whether it was through her stepmother or her brother, Lena was told not to expect anyone to fight her battles for her. It was a cold and cynical lesson to teach a child, sure, but Lena understood why she needed learn it. While Lillian or Lex never intended Lena to have the life she has chosen for herself, Lena was a superhero now. If she was going to be a good one, then she would need to learn how to face her own enemies sooner rather than later.

Deadshot and his partners came after her. If anyone should take them down, it should be Lena herself. However, her ring was down to approximately ten percent power.

Right now, it's not a matter of, 'Should she?', rather, 'Can she?'.

"I guess we'll just have to find out," Lena said as she slipped her power ring into her finger.

* * *

Near the exit/entrance of the parking lot, Dove was currently facing off against Deadshot. The two men were a good few meters away from each other. Taking advantage of this distance, Deadshot tried to gun Dove down him a barrage of well-aimed shots from his gun gauntlets.

Usually, Deadshot would be able to deliver a deadly shot at his enemy ten times over. However, Dove wasn't any normal opponent. Using the preternatural 'danger sense', Dove started off in a sprint, deftly dodging the bullet storm with the grace of a trained dancer. Once Jericho picked up enough speed, he took off flying. Rushing at Deadshot at the top speed of a peregrine falcon, Dove quickly closed the distance.

With Dove only inches away, the normally precise Deadshot decided to forgo his world-class aim and decide to pepper the general front area with automatic fire from one of his gun gauntlets. Despite this, Dove was able to weave and flip his way out of the deadly bullets to make turning kick that swiped away the one gun gauntlet Deadshot had up. With the assassin slightly winded, Dove jumped at Floyd to do a flying tackle on him.

Dove was flying to the nearest wall to bash Deadshot against. However, the assassin managed to recollect himself enough to land a knee at the hero's gut, causing him to gasp in pain and tumble into the asphalt. With Dove still on him, Deadshot pulled out a knife and tried to stab the hero in the back as they tumbled. However, Dove quickly countered and caught Deadshot's arm.

Dove quickly reclaimed the advantage by kneeing Deadshot in the stomach and flipping over to pin the assassin to the floor. Using his other arm to pin Deadshot's free arm, Dove frowned as he told Floyd, "Based on all this unpleasantness, should I assume that talking you out of fighting is out of the question?"

"Gee, who could have told you that, Sherlock?", Deadshot snarked as he tried and failed to break free from Dove's unusually strong hold.

"Well, in that case...", Dove began before slamming Deadshot's head with his own. Floyd gasped in pain as he felt the whole world spin. While he is disoriented, Dove let go of Deadshot's arms to remove his mask. With his face exposed, Dove stared into the assassin's eyes and used his metahuman ability to take over his body.

Now in Deadshot's body, Jericho quickly shoved his own body out of the way, his currently unconscious form flopping to the ground on its back. He then stood up and watched Hawk take on Knockout and Scandal Savage.

Knockout was currently putting the pressure on Hawk, dishing out a combo of unrelenting super punches. However, thanks to Hawk's comparable strength, she was able to parry each blow with relative ease.

"You call those punches?", Hawk mocked, "Come on, my raggedy, old mum can hit harder than you!"

"Keep talking, asshole," Knockout said steaming in rage, "See where that gets you!"

"What can I say? I'm chatty. It adds to my charm," Hawk said before she caught one of Knockout's fists. Hawk twisted it, spraining the joint between her hand and her wrist. Knockout yelled out in pain, and Hawk used that distraction to knock the former Fury to the ground with a fist to the cheek. Hawk then brandished one of her clawed hands and lifted it into the air. "Sweet dreams, lo... agh!"

Hawk's clawed strike was then interrupted when Scandal stabbed her in the arm with her gauntlet blade in retribution for her hurt girlfriend.

"Fuck!", Hawk screamed in pain before her instincts took over. Holly reacted by delivering a savage punch to Scandal's face, crushing her nose and bloodying her face as the immortal assassin awkwardly removed her blade from Holly's arm and stumbled back. Hawk looked at the bloody wound Scandal gave her and grabbed it as she winced. "Magic blades... God, that's annoying."

Scandal snapped out of her daze as she forcibly repositioned her broken nose with an audible crunch. She then let out an angered growl as she came at Hawk with her wrist blades. Despite her agonizing pain, Holly lifted up her fists in preparation for that fight. However...

BANG!

"GAAAHH!", Scandal screamed as she felt a bullet pierce through her thigh. Her pain was mercifully brief, however, as Hawk exploited her hurt enemy to slam the side of her head with her fist, knocking her out.

Holly smirked and turned to Jericho in Deadshot's body. "Never thought you had it in you, kid."

"She'll live," Deadshot then looked over to see Knockout up and charging angrily at Holly, "Hawk! Look out!"

Hawk turned to see Knockout coming at her, but by then, it's too late. Knockout was able to punch Holly in the face, messing up her nose, before grabbing the hero's head and smashing it against her knee, laying her out for now.

With the stronger hero incapacitated, Knockout then turned to the man who hurt her lover and snarled at him. She then sprinted at her possessed ally at full speed like a raging bull. Deadshot lifted up one of his gun gauntlets and tried to incapacitate Knockout nonlethally with a shot in the leg. However, the bullet flattened completely against the warrior woman's skin.

Seeing this, Deadshot muttered, "Oh crap!", before panicking and peppering Knockout with a volley of automatic fire.

Like before, however, the bullets bounced off of Knockout's seemingly impenetrable skin. Undeterred by this ineffectual attack, Knockout pushed pass Deadshot, shoving him aside with superhuman force and throwing him into the ground with the back of her fist. The force of this backhand knocked Deadshot out, forcing Jericho to return to his original body.

Opening his eyes wide, Dove got up and tried to put some distance between himself and Knockout by taking flight. However, Knockout was able grab Jericho's foot while he was a couple feet into the air.

"Shit!", Dove muttered before he screamed. Knockout slammed him back into the asphalt on his stomach. She then flipped Dove over to the other side, slamming the young hero on his back. As he groaned in agony, Knockout let go of Dove's foot before kneeling down next to him and pinning him to the floor by placing a hand on his chest.

She growled at him, "You used one of my friends to shoot the woman I love. That's pretty low, 'hero'."

"Agh, is it too late to resolve our issues by talking about our feelings?", Jericho remarked nervously.

"I prefer to resolve them by BREAKING YOUR STUPID FACE!", Knockout yelled as she motioned to punch Jericho in the face with enough force to split an elephant's skull in two.

But before Knockout could splatter Dove's brains all over the ground with her fist, however, a powerful green energy blast struck the alien warrior woman in the chest, sending her flying next to her lover with a scream.

"What the hell?", Knockout groaned before she and Scandal, who managed to quickly recover from her gunshot wound through her healing factor, got up to see a shimmering (and poorly dressed) green figure touch down next to Dove.

"I heard you just tried to kill Ms. Luthor," Green Lantern said glaring at the two lady assassins, "Big mistake."


	7. Comfort and Joy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second part of Showdown will be coming soon. Don't worry. I just wanna do something special for Christmas and do a little worldbuilding at the same time. And as a bonus, we'll also get to see the Titans team that Kara and Jessica were a part of.
> 
> This chapter takes place during Supergirl Season 1 during Christmas. Timeline-wise, this chapter takes place between episodes nine and ten, so this is after Kara had a little prisoner exchange with Non and J'onn saving her job at Catco, but before Toyman got out of prison. Just a reminder.
> 
> One more thing, in this AU, Kara and James were always just friends. Their relationship never really went anywhere in the show, and they just dropped it at the start of Season 2. It also didn't impact much on the story, so that change is easy for me. There may have been some romantic teasing between the two in the past, but by this point Kara moved on emotionally. You'll see why in this chapter.
> 
> But enough about that, enjoy the show and merry Christmas!

**Jump City, California**

**December 24, 2015**

Across the coast and overlooking the entire city was a small island with a tall hill. On top of that hill was a twenty story tower in the shape of a giant T of all things. Despite the building's goofy looking appearance (and even more abysmal locale), this tower holds a special significance for this particular city and the people in it.

This is the headquarters of the Titans, Jump City's premier superhero team.

Riding up the elevator of the tower towards the penthouse level were two sisters- Kara Danvers, who was fully dressed in her Supergirl uniform and carrying a wrapped present, and Alex, who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else than here.

"Remind me again why we're here instead of investigating Maxwell Lord or finding out what Astra's up to?", Alex asked with a tired tone.

"It's Christmas Eve, Alex! Don't be like that," Kara said ever the cheerful one, "Work can wait for today and for Christmas. I mean, after everything that's happened, we could use a break."

"I guess, but...", Alex grumbled still a little uncertain, "James took Winn to spend Christmas with his family in Metropolis, and Mom is spending her Christmas studying some human-Czarnian hybrid girl in Star City. I don't know anything about these Titans friends of yours. Maybe I should've just stayed with the DEO..."

"Alex," Kara said firmly as she held her adoptive sister's shoulder, "The Titans are cool. They were real helpful to me when I first started out, and I want you to meet them. You could use some more friends."

"I have enough friends, thank you very much," Alex replied defensively.

"You barely talk to Winn and James, and the only other person you talk to is your boss," Kara pointed out, "Trust me. You need this."

"Maybe, but... I'm still not sure. I mean, this is a superhero crowd, and I'm just a normal woman."

"A 'normal woman' who can kick all kinds of ass and fights aliens on a regular basis," Kara remarked.

Alex glared at her and said, "You know what I mean. The Titans are part of your world. The costumed hero world, I mean. I'll stand out, and... that'll just be awkward."

"Just give them a chance, Alex. They're not as exclusive as you make them out to be," Kara said before the elevator stopped and opened up, "You happen to have a lot more in common with them than you think. Come on."

Alex sighed as she reluctantly followed her sister into the penthouse. Once they entered the living room, Alex saw a group of three people hanging around a coffee table. One of them was a woman with white hair, who wore a blue and white uniform with a white, feathered cape, sitting intimately close with a taller and more muscular man, who wore a white and red uniform with a pair of segmented wings on his back. The third figure was a younger man, around a couple years younger than Kara, who had short, black hair and wore a red and green uniform with a black and yellow cape and a prominent yellow R over his right pectoral.

The three noticed the two sisters walk in, and they immediately began approaching them. The white haired woman gave Kara a smile as the two went in for a hug.

"Kara!", the woman spoke happily, "I'm so glad you can make it!"

"It's good to see you, Dawn," Kara replied as the two women separated.

"Part-timer," the black haired man called Kara.

"Hey, Jason. Still got no powers?", Kara teased.

"Yup. Still weak to glowing green rocks?", Jason snarked back.

"Afraid so," Kara the remarked, "Can you benchpress more than a ton now?"

"Guys guys," the brunette said butting in, "There's no need to compare sizes... we both know I can kick both your asses in a straight up fight."

Both Kara and Jason glared at the taller man and were about to tell him off. Thankfully, Dawn stepped in to put them all back on track. "That's enough showboating, don't you think?", she then looked at the taller man in particular, "Hank, you're better than that."

"I'm pretty sure our time together proves that I'm not," Hank spoke sarcastically, "Remember that little jaunt in Metropolis with the Wildebeest Society?"

"You mean the mission where you took out the city's power grid trying to take down the head Wildebeest?", Jason told him condescendingly.

"Where we all had to listen to my cousin lecture us for an hour?", Kara said a little pissed at the memory.

"We still took down the Society, didn't we?", Hank said without shame.

"Yeah, babe... maybe we should've employed more subtlety on that one," Dawn said cringing, "I can do without Superman giving me the 'I'm not angry, I'm disappointed' face."

"So we learned an important lesson about stealth," Hank shrugged, "I'll still call that a win. We're a lot more subtle now, right?"

"At least until the explosions start happening, which they always do," Jason pointed out. The four Titans then began laughing together.

As they talked, Alex felt awkward standing in her corner as she watched these people interact with each other with the familiarity of close friends, no, comrades-in-arms. At this point in time, Alex felt it was strange that her sister had such a connection to these Titans. Sure, Alex heard about the Titans from the news, and Kara did talk to her about the time she spent in Jump City sometimes (eventhough she's slow to relay this information to James and Winn for some reason). However, it's weird being dumped into this part of Kara's life after barely witnessing it herself, and it's weirder still for Alex to think about how her sister kept these two worlds separated for all this time like she's hiding something.

"We could've used these guys' help in fighting Astra or the other Fort Rozz escapees," Alex thought to herself, "But then again... I did do basically the same thing to Kara about my work in the DEO. I kept an important part of my life secret from my own sister... but why would she does she want to keep all this a distance from me?"

While Alex is caught up in her thoughts, Kara glanced at her adoptive sister and scolded herself internally. She directed her Titans friends to the brunette woman she brought to the Tower and told them, "Guys, I'd like you to meet Alex. My adoptive sister."

"Alex," Dawn repeated as she gave the newcomer a warm smile, "It's nice to finally meet you. Kara talks about you all the time."

Alex blushed a bit as she replied, "Thanks. Um, you're... Dove, right?"

"Dawn Granger," she answered before turning to the man in white and red, "The handsome stud behind me is my partner, Hawk. Hank Hall."

"'Sup," Hank said casually.

Dawn then pointed at Jason, "And the guy with the smart mouth is Jason Todd."

"The one and only Robin," Jason said giving off an air of self-confidence.

"If you don't count Tim and Steph in Gotham," Kara said at the proud Robin's expense.

Jason chuckled irritably as he said, "Yeah, but..."

"And you're still a ways off from being on Dick's level," Hank snarked, "Just saying."

Jason glared at his taller teammate and said, "Fuck you, man."

As Hank laughed at Jason's bruised ego, Dawn turned back to Alex and continued, "There are two mlre members of our team. They're squatting at the library," she then turned Kara and asked, "Can you fetch them for us, Kara?"

Kara nodded. "On it, fearless leader."

As Kara scampered off a bit more clumsily than usual, Alex turned to Hank and asked, "I hear you're almost as strong as a Kryptonian."

"Drop the 'almost' and you're absolutely right," Hank said flexing one of his massive biceps.

"So how did you get you're powers? Are you an alien? Metahuman?"

"Try magic, hun," Hank replied.

"Excuse me?", Alex said skeptically.

"It's a long story," Dawn started to answer, "Short version- Hank and I are empowered by the Lords of Order and Chaos. They are these gods who chose us to maintain the balance between war and peace."

"... Nothing about what you just said makes any sense," Alex replied as her scientist brain struggled to process this insanity.

"Yes, because space prisons crashing from alternate dimensions and secret wars between alien invaders and the Men in Black are totally normal by comparison," Jason snarked.

Alex narrowed her eyes at the Robin and asked, "How do you know that?"

"Former sidekick to Batman," Jason said crossing his arms smugly, "We know things."

Alex shook her head. It seems Batman and his sidekicks are privy to classified government intel. That's not gonna be a fun conversation when she goes back to J'onn in the DEO. Best to save that headache until after Christmas, though.

Alex turned back to Hank and told him, "You say you're as strong as my sister. Prove it."

Hank let out an eager smirk. "My pleasure."

* * *

Kara entered the library. It was a rather small space all things considered with only a few shelves off to the side, a couple desks on the other side, and a door leading to a small room in the back. Kara looked around to see one of her teammates, who wore white gloves and a green and black uniform, sitting down on a desk and quietly reading _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy._

Kara went over to talk to her, but on the way, the Kryptonian accidentally hip checked one of the shelves. If she was human, Kara would wince and clutch her hip in pain. For Kara, though, the impact only served to bewilder her mildly. More importantly, however, was that the small collision caused a couple books fly off the shelf and...

SLAM!

"Gah!", Jessica squealed frightfully as she immediately scrambled out of her chair, nearly tripping herself in the process, and pointed her power ring at direction of the sound. Her brown eyes were scanning her surroundings with wild paranoia before settling on an apologetic Kryptonian. "Oh... it's just you," Jessica Cruz said as she relaxed her stance and began to quietly do some breathing exercises.

Kara held out her hands and hastily said, "Sorry! Jess, I'm sorry. I was being careless."

"It's... fine, Kara. I just...", Jessica said as her nervousness was starting to get the better of her. She shied away from Kara's concerned eyes as she turned her back on her teammate and retreated back to her book. "I... just need to get a better handle on my... condition. It was my fault really. I should be better than this. I'm a superhero now. I shouldn't act so... so cowardly."

Kara looked at her friend sadly as she placed the books back on their proper place in the shelves. She then walked over to Jessica and said, "You know, none of us think of you like that, right?"

Jessica sighed. "I know..."

"I'm serious. You're a real hero, Jessica," Kara said firmly, "You've done as much for this team and for this city as the rest of us. Don't forget that okay?"

Jessica blushed and let out a little smile. "Thanks..."

Kara smiled at her friend. After letting the tension die down a bit, she then told Jess, "My sister's at the Tower today. She's staying for the party. She's at the living room with the others. I'd like you to meet her."

Jessica's nervousness returned as she rubbed her wrist. "I don't know. I'm not good with... people. Especially new people... I don't think Alex will like me much. You make her sound so fearless and kickass, while I'm..."

"Sector 2814's Green Lantern," Kara interrupted, "You have your moments too, Jess. Just give Alex a chance. If it helps, you can talk to her about the Corps. Alex doesn't like telling people this, but she's a big Green Lantern fan. I'm sure you'll have her eating out of the palm of your hand in no time."

Jessica took a deep breath. "O-Okay. I can do that," she then got up and turned to her friend, "Thanks Kara."

"Don't mention it," Kara said as Jessica started to walk out of the library, "One more thing. Is Raven still in her meditation chamber?"

Jessica briefly stopped and nodded at her teammate. "Yeah. Um, take as much time with her as you want. We'll... I'll cover for you two. Don't worry."

"Thanks," Kara said before walking towards and entering the meditation chamber at the back of the library.

Entering the compact, empty room, the Kryptonian saw a young woman her (biological) age. Raven's skin was a light shade of brown, outlining her Native American heritage, and her long, brunette hair was tied into intricate braided ponytail that slung over her shoulder and had red highlights along the tips of her bangs. She had on a black, full-body suit with a pointed hood attached to a cape. Her suit incorporated a pair of heels, gauntlets with fingers that ended with distinctively sharp talons, a golden belt interlaced with strange red orbs, and a red and gold talisman at the base of her neck that the cape was attached to.

Raven was currently sitting on the floor, monk-style, and her hands were resting on her knees. Her face had a neutral and tranquil look about it as she focused her mind towards inner peace.

Kara smiled down on the beautiful girl as she quietly walked towards her and knelt down on her level. She placed her little box down before reaching out to caress one of Raven's cheek. "Hello beautiful," Kara spoke with much fondness in her voice.

At that moment, Raven's stoic expression cracked as she let out a small smile. "Hello Kara," Raven said before holding on to Kara's chin and pulling her in for a deep and meaningful kiss.

Once they separated, Kara let out a contented exhale as she said, "Rao, I missed you."

Raven chuckled. "We literally had a date a couple days ago."

"Yeah, but...", Kara's happy expression warped into a more drained and battered one, "The past two days were... they were hard."

Raven looked at her girlfriend with sympathy as she said, "I know. Finding out your mom used you to have your aunt arrested. Learning that your mom might've doomed your planet. Your aunt trying to kill you. Cat Grant being hacked and her almost finding out your secret identity..."

"Yeah yeah, I get it. Thanks for the reminder," Kara remarked.

Raven winced. "Sorry..."

Kara then shook her head. "I don't wanna think about it. Today, I just want a nice Christmas and spend time with my team, my sister, and of course, my wonderful, wonderful girlfriend."

"Here here," Raven cheerfully replied as she practically threw herself at Kara and stole another kiss.

Holding her beloved close, Kara then glanced at the box she put away and said to Raven, "Speaking of Christmas, there's something I wanna give you."

"Me too, but let's see what you have first," Raven said as the two women separated to let Kara hand her a box. Raven used her magic to telekinetically lift the box and elegantly undid the wrapper. Once the box was stripped of its paper prison, Raven then held on to the box with her actual hands and opened the lid. Raven let out a surprised gasp as she gazed upon the book inside the box. "The complete scriptures of Azar the Wise? How..."

"You said that you don't have anything to remember Azarath ever since your dad, well...", Kara winced as she stopped herself from reciting her girlfriend's painful history, "I know what it's like to miss a home you can't return to. So... I asked Clark for help, and he knew guy who knew a guy who knew some woman named Madam Xanadu who was willing to part with this book."

"Kara...", Raven murmured almost at a loss for words, "I don't know what to say..."

"You don't have to say anything," Kara said before flashing a sly smile, "You could express your eternal gratitude in, say, a kiss?"

Raven smirked. "Don't we kiss enough already?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Ha, true enough," Raven said before she pecked Kara lightly on the lips.

Kara bit her lower lip playfully as she said, "Now that I've shown you mine..."

Raven rolled her eyes as she summoned a small box via teleportation magic with a flick of her wrist. She grabbed the box and presented it to her girlfriend. Raven opened the box and showed Kara a silver ring with a blue gemstone as its centerpiece.

Kara's eyes widened as she nervously sputtered, "Raven... honey. I love you, and I'm flattered. But... don't you think you're moving this way too fast?"

"I'm not marrying you, Kara."

"Thank Rao...", Kara said sighing. Raven narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend and raised her brow, causing the Kryptonian to wince as she amended, "I mean, I knew that. Obviously."

"Even without my empathic powers, I can tell that's bull," Raven remarked.

"Well, what do you expect when you give your girlfriend a ring for Christmas?", Kara then picked up the ring and examined it closely, "Nice craftsmanship. And the gem... it's like nothing I've ever seen. Warm to the touch too... where'd you get this? It must cost a fortune."

"I actually made the ring myself. Wonder Woman helped me," Raven started to explain, "But Jessica found this stone for me. She said she purchased this rock from a market in a planet called Ungara. It's mostly lapis lazuli, but there are trace amounts of Blue Kryponite in it."

Kara's eyes widened as her voice slightly quivered. "Kryponite?"

"Don't worry. I ran this by with your cousin. Apparently, Blue Kryponite is the only variant of Kryptonite that's actually beneficial to Kryptonians. It actually strengthens the solar energy in your cells. There isn't enough Blue Kryptonite in there to give you any meaningful power boost for battle, but I was, um, told that it's good for your mood and, well, general health. I just... wanted to give you a little something to remember your home planet that won't kill you. What a coincidence, huh?"

Kara smiled wide from ear to ear. "Great minds think alike," she said before putting the ring on her finger, "I love it... but I love you more."

"I love you too," Raven said as she grabbed on to Kara's hands and gave them a good squeeze, "So... today's the day, huh? Alex is here, isn't she? It's time to tell her about... us."

"Yeah...", Kara said with an uneasy breath. She looked down with uncertainty and anxiety present in her blue eyes.

However, Raven held her cheek gently before pulling her girlfriend's head to meet her own brown eyes. "It's going to be alright," Raven reassured, "If you're sister is the woman I think she is, then she'll love you no matter what."

"I... I know that," Kara stumbled hesitantly, "It's just... I never told anyone about this before. Me liking both men and women, I mean. I got so used to hiding that the thought of being open with it with someone, especially with Alex... it scares me."

"I feel your fear, my love," Raven spoke softly, "But I think you should have more faith in your sister. Just as you have in me when you learned about my... special heritage."

"Yeah... you're right," Kara said feeling a little confident, "Alex will accept me. Accept us. She's always supported me ever since we were children."

"That's the spirit," Raven said with an encouraging smile.

Kara smiled back. "We shouldn't keep them waiting. Come on."

* * *

"Hell yeah! Come on!", Hank grunted loudly as he laid down on the floor and was currently weightlifting a giant robot arm made from a promethium-titanium alloy that he got from Tower storage. As a cherry on top of this metaphorical sundae, Jason and Dawn were currently sitting on top of the arm playing poker. "You see this?! You see this?! Huff... huff... yeah! I'm strong as fuck! I'm the strongest hero EVER!"

Despite Hank's showing off, however, his feats were currently being ignored by his audience (Alex and Jessica on the couch). Thankfully, the effort he was putting into the weightlifting made sure he didn't notice. Jessica was stumbling her way through a story of one of her past exploits as Alex hung to her every word like a child watching a cartoon.

"... and then Simon and I used our combined power to bring down the Hell Tower and stopped the Red Lanterns from infecting the planet with their rage," Jessica said finishing with a quick breath and relieved to be done.

"I always wondered what that was about," Alex said with stars in her eyes, "The reports I read say that the rage was just a really bad rabies outbreak, but you actually saved the planet from a Red Lantern invasion? Amazing!"

Jessica rubbed the back of her head shyly. "I had... help. Honestly, I felt like Simon did most of the work. He cured my rage, he kept my sister safe, and I spent a good part of the final battle cowering in a corner. Sure, I had my moments, but... I wasn't as brave as I should've. Sometimes I wondered my this ring even chose me. I'm not as fearless as the other Green Lanterns."

"From what you're telling me, you were put in a nightmarish situation, and it was basically your first day on the job," Alex said gently, "It's okay to be scared. What matters is that you made a difference in the end."

"I just feel like a burden," Jessica continued, "I know how to make constructs now, but I feel like I'm holding everyone back. Simon and the Titans... I wonder if they'd be better off if this ring chose someone else. Someone braver. Like you."

"Me?"

Jessica nodded. "Kara tells us all the time about how awesome and fearless you are. You face down aliens ten times stronger than you on a daily basis, and you do it all without powers. Compared to that, I'm..."

"Still an incredibly brave and powerful woman," Alex finished, "I may not know you as much as Kara does, but I know you're a lot braver than you say you are. No matter how scary things get, you're still wearing that ring and doing the right thing anyway. If that's not bravery, I don't know what is."

Jessica blushed. "Thanks... I... I needed that."

"Any time," Alex nodded before sporting a small smile, "Say, the DEO could use someone like you. We aren't legally allowed to recruit aliens or alien affiliates, but Director Henshaw might have some work for you. That is, if you're interested."

"I dunno," Jessica sighed, "Between sector duty and the Titans, I'm kinda already swamped with work. But... I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask."

By then, Kara had stepped out of the library with Raven following behind her. Looking at her sister, Kara smiled as she tugged her girlfriend along towards Alex and Jessica.

"Alex," Kara started before directing her sister towards the teammate next to her, "This is the last member of our humble group. Raven Roth, AKA... well, she doesn't really have a codename. Or a secret identity for that matter."

"No secret identity?", Alex repeated baffled, "That seems a little risky. What if your enemies decide to target your loved ones?"

"I... don't think that's an issue," Raven said with visible unease as she explained, "My father killed my mother and destroyed my home when I was young. No loved ones to protect, so..."

Alex sighed and kicked herself internally. "Sorry..."

"It's okay. The Titans are my family now," Raven said before turning to Kara and giving her a smile, "I don't know what I would've done without them."

Kara blushed and smiled back at her girlfriend.

Alex looked on and smiled as she told Raven, "Well, it's nice to see Kara make so many good friends."

"Friends...", Kara said as she tried to hide the turmoil she is feeling in her heart, "Of course. I feel so blessed."

Raven eyed her curiously as she subtly asked, "Isn't there something you wanted to tell Alex?"

"I...", Kara said as she froze like a deer facing headlights.

Alex looked at her sister puzzled as she asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"

Jessica quietly stood up and headed towards the kitchen to put some distance between herself and the drama. Even Dawn and Jason settled into their seats uncomfortably as they watched Kara struggle to come out to her sister. Only Hank didn't seem to notice only because he was too busy showing off his super strength.

All of the Titans knew about Kara's sexuality and her budding relationship with Raven. They accepted the Kryptonian girl regardless, and for months, they've been nothing but supportive to Kara as she prepares to slowly come out of the closet to her loved ones. However, telling her to go through with this was a whole lot more different than actually watching this go down. Kara's team believed that her coming out is ultimately for the best, but they would be lying if they said that they regret encouraging Kara as she was suddenly put on the spot.

Honestly, all this attention was starting to get too much for the previously determined Girl of Steel. She stuttered, "I... I'm... I like..."

BZZT!

An electronic doorbell sounded throughout the penthouse level, signaling that there's someone at the front door waiting for the locks open.

Kara immediately jumped at this opportunity as she said, "Look at that! The guests are starting to arrive! I'll go see who that is."

Before Alex or Raven can speak up, Kara literally flew over to the elevator as fast as she could as she used a nearby monitor screen to see which guest had just arrived.

Realizing something's up, Alex asked Raven, "What's bugging her?"

Wanting to respect her lover's privacy, Raven simply sighed and said, "I think it's best if she told you herself."

"Fuck yeah!", Hank screamed as he threw out the robot arm with one powerful thrust. Jason and Dawn almost fell out the arm as the cards they were using scattered like petals in a strong wind. They both looked at Hank displeased as he flipped himself to his feet and continued shouting and flexing his biceps. "Strongest Titan ever! Hahaha!"

His boisterous persona then cracked as Hank noticed everyone, even mild-mannered Jessica, glare at him for his poor timing.

His confident smile shifted to a nervous one as he asked, "What?"

* * *

**Later**

It was nighttime now, and the Christmas party in Titans Tower was already in full swing. The Tower's penthouse level was filled to bursting with guests made up of the former Titans, the friends and family of the current roster, and even heroes outside the family (mostly mentors of the Titans and their chosen guests). The Titans' Christmas party was, without a doubt, the biggest superhero gathering of the year. It was a very exclusive event too, so most of these people felt obligated and honored to show up.

Next to the punchbowl was Alex grinning happily as she talked to one of these prestigious guests, Diana Prince AKA Wonder Woman.

"Maxwell Lord is the worst!", Diana said venting to her admiring fan, "Just the other day, I caught one of his agents trying to steal the Brother Eye program. Of course, I caught the agent, but Max somehow managed to convince the authorities that the agent had no connection to him. It's bullshit!"

"Oh, yeah. Yeah. I know what you mean," Alex said nodding along as she tried very hard to focus on Diana's eyes rather than her breasts, "Max Lord is a total scumbag. He roughed up one of Kara's friends when he tried to find out what he was up to."

"Athena know how that man continues to escape karmatic judgement," Diana grumbled, "I thought I was through with slippery, corporate snakes when we sent Luthor away. It almost makes me want to wring his neck and be done with it."

"I think there's some merit to that idea," Alex joked, "I'd be more than willing to help bury the body when you're done."

"Gods, don't tempt me," Diana said as she downed something that definitely wasn't punch, "Batman will probably be on my ass if I did. Clark too. Damn, it's hard being a hero sometimes."

"Well, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he gets what he deserves," Alex said reassuringly, "My sister and I will take down Max Lord the right way. You have my word, Ms. Prince."

"Please, call me Diana," she said as her mood slowly began to improve, "And thank you, Agent Danvers."

Alex snarked, "Now now, if I'm calling you Diana..."

"Alex it is then," Diana said laughing. She then heard a buzzing coming over the elevator. "That must be Donna and Cassie. I must greet them. It was nice talking to you, Alex."

"Okay... Diana," Alex said before hastily giving her a card, "If you want to talk to me some more in the future or just vent, um, give me a call?"

Diana smirked amusingly as she grabbed the card and started walking. "I'll keep that in mind."

Alex stared at Diana's wonderful legs under her short, Grecian skirt as she walked towards the elevator. Not in a gay way, of course. It's more like... admiration for an impossibly beautiful woman. She was jealous of her gods-blessed body, not lusting for her and wishing she could lick whipped cream off her perfect boobs. No romantic thoughts whatsoever.

Nope!

Alex is definitely one hundred percent ga... straight! As straight as an arrow. Alex Danvers definitely prefers men over women. The fact that she wanted to kill herself after having sex with the last man she dated has no bearing on her situation.

Alex blushed as she tried to focus on pouring a flask of whiskey on her punch and downing it as fast as she could. Thankfully, her confusing feelings were put on the back burner as Dawn approached her for conversation.

"Enjoying the party?", Dawn asked as friendly as ever.

"Oh yeah. Definitely," Alex said with a cheery smile, "Good drinks and better company. What's not to love?"

"You like hanging out with us superheroes that much, huh?", Dawn teased.

"I was actually afraid of that when Kara first brought me along, actually," Alex said causing Dawn to look at her with interest, "There was a time in my life where I resented Kara. Part of it was that I was jealous of her powers. She could fly and lift a hundred times her weight, and I'm just... normal. I got over it, obviously, but after seeing Kara be so chummy with all of you... that inadequacy came up again. And I absolutely dreaded being around all these big heroes. It kinda felt daunting approaching anyone here who isn't Kara or Clark."

"I'm sorry you had to feel that way," Dawn said sounding completely understanding.

"But I was being stupid, though," Alex amended, "After talking with all of you, I realize superheroes, despite their flashy costumes and big media presence, are ultimately just working stiffs like the rest of us. At least like me seeing as how our jobs are both about protecting people. You guys have problems too, and it was nice seeing that side of that community. The human side. Even if you're more likely to have your face on the side of a cereal box than me."

"Well, maybe if you start running around in spandex then you might," Dawn joked.

Alex shrugged. "I would, but the DEO has a strict dress code. Sorry."

"That's a shame," Dawn said chuckling.

Alex continued, "I'm glad Kara decided to bring me to this. Even if the music... leaves a lot to be desired."

_When there's trou-ble you know who to call..._

_Teen Titans!_

_From their To-wer they can see it all..._

Dawn shrugged. "It's the only licensed song dedicated to our team. It's basically tradition that we put both the Engish and Japanese versions on the soundtrack for every party we host. Team spirit, you know?"

"Yeah, but...", Alex struggled to say trying to be as polite as possible, "The two versions play back to back every other minute. No offense, but I'm kinda sick of it. I don't even like K-pop."

"First of all, this is from Puffy AmiYumi. They're a Japanese pop rock band, not K-pop," Dawn said dropping her friendly smile as she adopted a more defensive stance, "And second, this is from the old Teen Titans cartoon. Sure it's based on Dick's squad, but do you realize how significant this is? It's not everyday that a superhero or superhero team gets a show based on their adventures. Do you know who does? Superman. Batman. Green Lantern. The Justice League! The Titans started off as a bunch of former sidekicks and kid heroes trying to make a name for themselves. We were a joke, but then through hard work and a lot of our number dying along the way, we are now a respected team. That cartoon and that theme song signified that, so hell yeah we're gonna flaunt it all day long! And I'm still pissed that Cartoon Network canceled it and replaced it with a clearly dumbed down knockoff!"

Dawn ended her rant as she panted heavily and tried to cool off her pent up anger.

Alex leaned back, a little scared of the usually friendly woman. "Okay, I get it. I don't mean to offend you. I didn't know this song meant so much to you or your team."

"It's fine," Dawn said sighing, "I shouldn't have blown up like that. I'm just really proud to be a part of this team and being its leader."

"I totally get it," Alex nodded, "You guys earned that song. You get to be proud of it. Blast it into the heavens, even. Just... I don't know, maybe play some Gwen Stefani soon? It'll make this so much more bearable."

"I'll see what I can do."

Alex took another sip of her punch/beer before taking a quick look of her surroundings and asking Dawn, "By the way, where's Kara? I haven't seen her since the party began."

Dawn shifted her fingers uncomfortably as she squeaked out, "Oh, she's around here... somewhere."

"I gathered," Alex remarked sarcastically, "But do you know where she is? I feel like she's avoiding me, and I want to know why."

"Why would I know where she is?"

"You're a close friend and her team leader," Alex pointed out, "You probably know where in the Tower Kara would be in if she was upset."

"Why do you think she's upset?", Dawn asked as she began to sweat.

"Come on, don't stonewall me here. We both know she's upset about... something!", Alex said as her panic began to rise, "I think it has something to do with that... thing she wanted me to talk about. But every time I bring it up, she either changes the subject or finds an excuse to avoid me! Help me out here, Dawn. I'm starting to lose my mind over this."

Dawn sighed. "Kara just has a lot on her mind. She'll open up when she's ready."

"If you say so," Alex said before putting down her cup, "But if it's all the same to you, I'm gonna try to find her. Excuse me..."

As Alex turned around to leave, Dawn sighed and looked over to the balcony Kara was sulking at. She whispered to herself, "Poor kid..."

* * *

Over at said balcony, Kara stared out blankly into the city across the bay. Standing next to her was Dawn's older sister, Holly, who was currently drunk off her ass and downing a bottle of vodka.

"You know... I would've made a better Hawk than *burp!* Hank...", Holly slurred.

"Uh huh," Kara hummed absentmindedly as she continued to focus on brooding.

"I mean... I used to be a Navy SEAL!", Holly complained, "If anyone's worthy to be the, uh... be the... partner! To my dear... little... sister... it's me! I'm way more awesome than *hiccup!* bloody Hank Hall! I, um, graduated at the top of my class at the, um, West Point. I got a, erm, sexier accent. I got nicer eyebrows..."

"Yeah yeah, I agree...", Kara murmured as she took a sip of the beer that has no effect on her whatsoever.

"Right!", Holly yelled obnoxiously as she slung her arm around Kara's shoulders, "You're such a *hiccup!* good friend, Kara. Wanna... wanna make out?"

Kara sighed. "I have a girlfriend, Holly... and so do you."

"Oh yeah...", Holly hummed rather stupidly as she let go of Kara.

At that moment, Raven and a woman wearing a hijab entered the balcony. The unnamed woman looked at the drunk as hell Holly Granger and sighed. She walked over to Holly, grabbed her arm, and placed it over her shoulders for support.

As the woman began walking Holly out, she told the drunk Brit in a rather familiar tone, "Come on, Hol. Let's go sit down for a while."

"Sounds good...", Holly said before squinting at the woman for a minute, "Hey... you look like my girlfriend, Madia."

Madia Daou smiled as she remarked, "I get that a lot."

Raven observed this little encounter with amusement as she walked over to join Kara. Raven draped her arms around her girlfriend's shoulders as she said, "They make such a cute couple."

"Yeah," Kara said with a chuckle, "One's a hard drinking British American party girl and the other is a hardworking single mother from Qurac. Can they get along in the big city?"

"Hehe, that would make for a good sitcom, huh?"

Kara's smile dropped as she said, "They have so much working against them... yet they make it work somehow. They even have family who support what they have... but also family who don't."

"Your sister will support us," Raven said reaching over to grip her beloved's hand.

"You're probably right, but...", Kara sighed, "I don't know. On Krypton, love and relationships aren't based on gender. You can mate, be with, I mean, with anyone you want. There's no concept of a 'sexuality spectrum' where I'm from. It's just understood that your life partner may be from any gender and that's okay. Earth, on the other hand..."

"Yeah...", Raven said with a knowing sigh, "Not so much."

Kara tensed up as she said, "I... I heard stories of people getting disowned by their families for... for not loving the right person. For coming out. When I was in high school, there was this kid, Cullen Row. When people found out that he was gay, everyone at school bullied him for it. His own father gave him a black eye when he found out. That possibility... it scared me, so... so I hid who I really was ever since. I don't want that to happen to me and Alex."

"I'm sorry you had to witness that," Raven said softly, "But Alex isn't like the kids in your old school. She loves you more than anything, and the fact that you're bi won't change that. If anything, you coming out will strengthen the bond you have with her."

"How do you know?"

"I'm an empath, remember? I can sense your sister's feelings, and she's worried about you. She wants to know what's wrong with you. You've been avoiding her all night, and she just wants to know what she can do to help you. She's starting to think that she's done something to upset you."

Kara sighed. "I didn't mean to make her think that. Rao, I'm so selfish."

Raven gently pushed Kara to the side to make the blonde face her. She gave her lover a determined look into her vulnerable blue eyes as she held on to Kara's hands. "You could never be selfish even if you tried. Kara, you're the kindest and most amazing person I've ever met. Everyone who knows you can see that. The team, Alex... me. I know that because... because you helped me find my way back to the light after everything my father took from me. You saved me Kara, and now, I'm asking you to save yourself for a change."

"Raven... I...", Kara was at a loss for words. She and Raven were dating for a couple months now, and already they were each other's rock. Even if their relationship is at a distance half the time, Kara couldn't imagine facing half of what she had to face this year without Raven being there in her life. So Kara simply replied, "Thank you..."

As Kara gave her a warm and vulnerable smile, Raven moved in and wrapped her beloved in a soft and warm embrace. Kara slipped her arms over her girlfriend's waist as she nestled her head against the crook of her neck.

The two relaxed in each other's arms for a good minute as they relished in each other's company. Living in different cities proved to be difficult for the two girlfriends at times, but it taught the two women to cherish what time they do have together.

At that moment, Alex found her way to the balcony. She looked Kara and let out a relieved sigh. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you, Kara."

Kara and Raven immediately separated once they noticed Alex coming by. Kara began to stutter as she rubbed the back of her head nervously and started to compose herself. "Alex! I... how are you?"

"Worried sick," Alex answered, "You've been avoiding me all night. Is there something wrong?"

"I... uh...", anxiety began gripping Kara again. She was just about to go with her gut reaction and try to evade the question, but then, Raven slipped her hand over to Kara's own. At the touch, Kara looked at Raven, who gave her a comforting smile. Finding her courage, Kara smiled back as she looked back at her sister and said, "Actually, there is something I need to tell you. Something important."

"Does it have to do with that... thing you wanted to tell me about a few hours ago?", Alex said eyeing her sister with concern.

"... yes," Kara said with uncertainty still flavoring her voice, "Can we... can we talk in private?"

"Sure," Alex said as she followed Kara back into the penthouse. They walked over to a corner, away from the costumed crowd. Coincidentally, it was in a corner near a window close to the balcony, allowing Raven to spy on this encounter from afar.

The mystic hero couldn't hear the words being exchanged between the two sisters, but she can see their body language and more importantly, thanks to her empathic abilities, their feelings.

This fated conversation began with Kara shrinking into herself. She was rubbing her arm nervously as Raven felt a wave of fear and anxiety coming off the love of her life. Raven felt guilty for putting Kara on the spot like this, but she knew that this was a conversation Kara needed with her sister sooner rather than later.

Alex had her hands placed on her hips, and Raven could feel a different kind of fear coming off her. It was the kind of fear borne from worry for her adoptive sister. It was an instinct that she had ever since Kara came into her life. Raven knew that this was an unbreakable bond, and it was the reason why she was so certain of Alex's character.

The conversation continued. Raven could see her girlfriend stumbling in her words, outright stuttering even. Even without her powers, Raven could see that Kara was struggling to find the words to tell her sister her secret. But then, Alex placed a hand on her sister's shoulder supportively. Alex spoke words of support as Kara teared up a little and nodded. She took a deep breath and gathered her strength.

After what felt like an eternity, Kara finally mouthed, "I'm bi."

An uncomfortable silence ensued. Raven could feel surprise and shock coming off of Alex, and the empath was slightly concerned that she couldn't figure out what kind. Kara, on the other hand, felt so vulnerable and exposed. It was so plain to see that Raven didn't need her powers to sense that.

Kara then began to explain that she liked both men and women, and she's been that way for as long as she could remember. Once more, she talked about Raven, specifically about how they've been in a relationship for over two months now and that she loves her with all her heart. Alex asked about who else knows about Kara's secret, and she replied that only the Titans and Clark knew.

Alex remained silent as Kara recoiled back out of fear and regret. After bit, Alex simply placed both her hands on her sister's shoulders and mouthed a few words before pulling her sister into a hug. Kara began to cry both out of joy and relief as she hugged Alex back tightly.

As Alex continued to whisper kind words into her sister's ears, Raven let out a wide smile as she watched this scene play out. She was relieved to see her faith in Alex pay off, and she had nothing but joy for her girlfriend as a great weight was lifted off her chest.

After a couple minutes of emotional tenderness, Alex and Kara separated to allow the blonde Kryptonian to turn around and beckon Raven to come over.

Raven smirked.

Of course Kara knew she was eavesdropping. Raven's hands flashed a dark purple as she teleported herself over to the sisters' corner.

"I assume it went off without a hitch?", Raven asked smirking.

"Something like that," Alex said, "Come here," she then pulled Raven over for a hug, "Thank you for taking care of my sister and for treating her right."

"Of course," Raven replied as she took a quick glance at the smiling and teary-eyed Kara, "She means the world to me."

Alex let her sister's girlfriend go as she mentioned, "I think this goes without saying, but if you do anything to hurt Kara, I will shoot you in the freaking kneecaps. Got it?"

Despite this threat of bodily harm, Raven and Kara chuckled as the former said, "Naturally."

"I wish I would've told you sooner," Kara said, "If I'd known it would be this easy..."

"You weren't ready then. I get it," Alex said before sighing, "I'm just sorry that you felt that you had to hide such an important part of yourself from me."

"No, it's definitely my fault," Kara countered, "I never should've thought that you were the kind of person who would reject me just because I'm bi."

Before this little humility spat can continue any further, Raven stepped in and said, "How about we agree that this little delay is a mutual effort and be done with it?"

The two sisters laughed. Alex joked, "I think that's fair."

"I'm just glad to have this weight off my shoulders," Kara said nodding happily, "I... I never felt so free."

"I'm happy for you, sis," Alex said before squinting downward and shrugging, "So... what now?"

As if to answer her question, a familiar opening beat played over the Tower's speakers as a Japanese singer went over the song's opening lyrics.

_When's there's trou-ble you know who to call..._

"Oh God no...", Alex murmured with a mortified look on her face.

Kara and Raven had the opposite expression as they began to groove to this criminally catchy opening theme to a children's cartoon.

Raven chirped, "Loving this!"

"Let's hit the dance floor!", Kara said as she grabbed the arms of both her girlfriend and her sister.

"Please God... kill me now!", Alex thought to herself as she was being forcibly dragged to the dance floor by her overeager, now openly bisexual sister, "Please grant me a sweet release from the FIFTY SECOND time I'm forced to listen to glorified self-advertisement of a theme song! Please... I'm begging you. Grant me a miracle!"

"Guys! The Brotherhood of Evil just broke into Stagg Enterprises with an army of killer gorillas!", Jason shouted running towards Raven, Alex, and Kara.

"Thank God," Alex sighed before she realized she just said that out loud, "I mean... oh, how horrible. I guess this means we have go out and stop them, hehe. And I get to go with you and not listen to this damn song again because Raven made me an honorary Titan!"

"I never said that," Raven pointed out.

However she was immediately elbowed in the side as Alex growled at her in an angry tone that betrayed the forced smile on her face. "Yes, you did! Don't ruin this for me!"

Raven gulped as she nodded along to Alex's claim. Apparently, she found someone who happens to be more terrifying than her father, who also happens to be the Devil.

Dawn, Hank, and Jessica joined them as their team leader said, "It's a good thing we're all in costume then."

"We're ready on your go, Dawn," Kara told her respectfully.

Clark Kent, AKA Superman, then stepped forward as he addressed his cousin and her friends. "The Brotherhood of Evil are no joke. If the Brain felt bold enough to attack out in the open, then he must got something up his... cylinder... thing. You sure you don't need any help?"

Diana spoke up, "The League is more than happy to help you Titans deal with this problem."

"We appreciate it, but Jump City is Titans territory," Kara stated proudly.

Jason chimed in, "We're not sidekicks anymore."

"We can handle anything the Brain throws at us," Jessica said before taking glance at her friends, "As long as we have each other."

"We got this in the bag," Hank said as he crossed his arms smugly.

"I suppose you do," Clark said flashing a proud smile.

"If it's decided," Dawn said before glancing at her entire team, "Titans... go."

* * *

In the middle of downtown Jump City, the nefarious Brain rolled into the emptied streets in the cylindrical mobile container that housed his diabolical mind. Walking next to him are his chief lieutenants, his Brotherhood of Evil!

The depraved Doctor Light! A sadistic killer with the ability to absorb luminous energies and project them as deadly blasts! He's the Elongated Man's most hated enemy for he... wedgied him constantly in high school!

The devious Madame Rouge! A femme fatale who has the power to shapeshift and contort her body for deadly strikes! She will break your heart... in more ways than one!

The terrifying Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man! A powerhouse with the ability to transform any part of his body into any animal, vegetable, or mineral! My God! He must be more powerful than Superman!

And last but certainly not least, the dreaded Monsieur Mallah! The Brain's faithful second-in-command and fanatical follower of his twisted vision! He's also a hyperintelligent gorilla who speaks French.

Together, the Brotherhood of Evil marched through the ruined streets with an army of fifty strong, genetically enhanced gorillas behind them, all armed with barbaric weapons and short tempers!

The Brain held out a peculiar box device using a robotic pincer that was usually stored within his mobile cylinder. He spoke with a heavily synthesized (and French) voice, _"At last... the Fatherbox that fool, Simon Stagg, salvaged from Darkseid's failed invasion in Metropolis is mine! With this power, I will finally take this miserable planet for myself! Rejoice my Brotherhood! Today is the first day of our triumph over these so-called heroes! Hahahaha!"_

The human members of the Brotherhood let out an evil laugh to echo that of their infamous leader. Mallah placed a small kiss on the Brain's brain container as they walked by, eliciting an odd giggle from the mad scientist.

However, the Brotherhood's victory was interrupted when the Fatherbox was suddenly enveloped in dark purple energy before disappearing entirely from the Brain's pincer.

_"Sacré bleu! What fool dares to defy me?!"_

"The Titans dare!", Supergirl said as she and Raven, who had the Fatherbox in her hand, teleported in front of the Brotherhood of Evil. Standing beside them were their faithful comrades- Hawk, Dove, Robin, and Green Lantern- along with their amazing guest star, Agent Alex Danvers.

_"Titans! Ever the thorn on my side," _the Brain scoffed as his minions tensed up, ready to fight at their master's command.

"It's over, Brain!", Kara continued in her usual heroically defiant tone, "Whatever it is you're planning, it ends now."

_"Ha! You children are more foolish than I thought!", _the Brain scoffed, _"My forces are legion, while you are only seven! What hope do you have against us?"_

It was then that Dawn let out a confident chuckle as she said, "That's your first mistake, Brain. The Titans always have each other's backs... and we didn't come alone.

BOOM!

A boom tube opened behind the rear of the Brotherhood's army, spooking the villains as they witnessed five more Titans coming out of it. Cyborg (Victor Stone), Beast Boy (Garfield Logan), Nightwing (Dick Grayson), Starfire (Koriand'r), and Jinx.

To their left, a flash of dazzling purple light revealed even more Titans. Zatanna Zatara, Aqualad (Kaldur'ahm), Red Robin (Tim Drake), Robin (Stephanie Brown), Impulse (Bart Allen), Tigress (Artemis Crock), Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes), Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark), and Speedy (Roy Harper).

And finally, to the right were the final set of Titans reinforcements who came down a nearby building. Troia (Donna Troy), Bumblebee (Karen Beecher), Steel (Natasha Irons), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Red Arrow (Emiko Queen), Omen (Lilith Clay), Pantha (Catra Rosabelle Mendez), and Red Star (Leonid Kovar).

The Brotherhood of Evil looked around and found themselves surrounded by some of the most powerful and skilled heroes the world has ever known. They were wall quivering in their boots in fear at the prospect of having to fight the past and present Titans, and that includes the Brain (and he doesn't even have boots!).

Kara gave the Brain a smug smirk as she asked, "Any last words before we kick your collective asses into New Year's?"

For that, the Brain only had this to say.

_"Qu'est ce que fuck..."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This, my dear audience, is my Christmas gift to you. I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> If I timed this right, this chapter dropped at Christmas, meaning that my subscribers either lept with joy at the sight of their new present in their notification box or were severely disappointed that this chapter wasn't the second part of Showdown. It's a fifty-fifty shot, all things considered, so I'm good with those odds. For the latter, I at least hope you enjoyed all the world building I did here with fleshing out Kara's Titans as well as show everyone who was ever a member of that team in this universe.
> 
> Speaking of those Titans cameos, if your favorite Titans failed to show up in that scene it's because their presence would contradict continuity too much, I have plans for them in the future, they died before the events of this story began, I didn't very much care for that particular Titan, or I forgot that character's existence. However, I can do some clarification for two Titans that didn't make the cut.
> 
> Jesse Quick. In this Earth, Jesse was never a Titan. Instead, she took the Flash's place as one of the founding members of the Justice League along with Superman (Clark Kent), Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (Diana Prince), Aquaman (Arthur Curry), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), and Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce). In fact, Bart Allen was her sidekick here and her grandson from the future.
> 
> Terra. She's no longer welcomed among the Titans at this point in time. A version of Judas Contract happened in the past. Like in the canon, she betrayed the Titans, but she actually lived through those events and just became a friendless fugitive instead at least for a bit. This little change will allow Tara Markov to grace us with her treacherous presence in the future.
> 
> Lastly, let's talk about the biggest story detail of this chapter- the fact that Kara and Raven were lovers during Season 1. I wanted to give Kara a love interest at this point in her life to help visualize a detail in Chapter 2 where Kara took a call from a female ex from Jump City.
> 
> But yeah, while Kara and Raven were happy together in this chapter, their love would not last. Their relationship would end shortly after Kara returned from Earth-1 for the Dominator crossover. Kara left the Titans around that same time as she became more focused on stopping Cadmus. It didn't help that the last mission she did with the team ended... poorly. But that's a story for another day.
> 
> As for Raven and Kara, they did not leave in good terms. Let's just say something bad happened to Raven on that mission I mentioned, which convinced her to think that Kara is better off without her. That sucks, but Kara had to hook up with Mon-El eventually. Like it or not, their relationship was actually important to the plot of this show and consequently this fic.
> 
> And yes, Alex did shoot Raven in the knees for breaking her sister's heart. Raven has healing spells, so she's fine.
> 
> That's about it for now. I hope you all like your Christmas gift! Thanks for the read, and I hope you have a very merry holiday season!


	8. Showdown (Part 2)

**Ivo Labs**

"Huff... huff... okay! That's the last of them!", Supergirl practically screamed as the green construct of Shrek faded away on a cracked lobby floor. Said lobby was now trashed beyond recognition with broken furniture, craters, and shattered glass everywhere. How could one construct of a cartoon character do all this damage, you ask?

Well, Kara did managed to destroy the Shrek that Jessica summoned rather easily... and too early. James was still inside, and they needed to buy him more time, and so Jessica started sending wave after wave of constructs of pop culture icons Kara's way.

By the time James got what he needed from the Ivo Labs' servers and successfully extracted himself, Supergirl had to beat down practically every fictional character ever from Freddy Kruger to John Wick, the Power Rangers, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles, Darth Vader, and even Clifford the Big Red Dog!

That last one hurt Kara especially.

And Jessica didn't even give her supposed friend the luxury of having to fight off these abominations one by one. She practically swarmed Kara with these things. Sure, Kara managed to fight them all off thanks to her powers, but even with superhuman durability, being tossed around by a Green Lantern's constructs were not fun. The bruises were evident enough of that.

Panting and glistening in sweat, Supergirl turned to Chad and Brad the security guards. Looking at Chad, who was standing next to the ruins of the front desk, Supergirl asked, "You guys okay?"

Chad nodded. "No one got hurt. So... it's fine, I guess."

Supergirl then turned to look at Brad, who was curled up behind the desk as a quivering wreck. Kara could hear his chattering teeth as she asked Chad with a look of concern in her eye, "Is he going to be okay?"

Chad took a brief look of Brad, who mumbled, "God is dead, and Hollywood killed him! God is dead, and Hollywood killed him! God is..."

"He'll get over it," Chad shrugged, "Or not. I don't care. My shift's done anyway."

"That's rather... nonchalant of you," Supergirl mumbled warily, "I'd thought you'd be more... rattled."

"Are you?", Chad spoke casually.

"No, but I-"

"Exactly."

Supergirl and Chad just stood there for a few moments in awkward silence (awkward for Kara anyway, Chad is just... indifferent) with only Brad's mad ramblings filling the void.

Eventually, Supergirl cleared her throat and said, "I better get going. Got things to do, you know."

Chad just stood there staring at Supergirl with overwhelming indifference for an uncomfortable length of time before finally saying, "So... are you gonna cover the damage? Or is this gonna come out of my paycheck?"

"Okay bye!", Supergirl shouted before flying away from the scene so fast that she made a sonic boom.

Once Supergirl was gone, Chad took a deep breath and said, "Knew I should've stayed in Arkham," he then walked towards the exit, "Fuck it. Going on a killing spree. Soon as I find my coke stash and the good knife."

"God is dead, and Hollywood killed him!"

* * *

Kara met Jessica back on the rooftop.

The Green Lantern spoke up with an encouraging smile. "That went better than expected."

"Jess...", Kara said before sighing and rubbing her tired head, "Just... just don't."

Jessica's face fell as she asked, "What? Is this about Clifford?", Kara groaned, confirming Jessica's suspicions, "Sorry. I was in a rush, and I forgot how much that cartoon meant to you for whatever reason. Are you mad?", Kara gave her the silent treatment, "I can see that you're mad," Kara confirmed that by continuing the silent treatment, "But at least I made another Clifford that fought by your side!", Jessica then cringed as she remembered, "Until Cruella Deville stabbed him to death and then... died in your arms. Eh...", Kara gave Jessica the silent treatment and a death glare. Jessica gulped. "If you're gonna kill me, do it quickly please."

"Jess... Jess just stop," Kara grumble as she let out a deep sigh as her phone began to ring in her skirt pocket. Picking it up, Kara saw that it was her sister calling, and she composed herself. Answering the call, she said, "Hey Alex, Jess and I managed to get the data from Ivo Labs. Don't worry. We didn't get..."

"Kara! Hurry back to the DEO!", Alex said with the utmost urgency.

"A-Alex?", Kara stuttered out of surprise, "What's wrong?"

"Lena got hurt! Someone tried to kill her again!"

"What?!", Kara said as she her heart clench up in her chest, "How did... no, I'll be there!"

Kara then hung up. Jessica looked at her friend concerned as she asked, "What's going on?"

"I, uh... my girlfriend got hurt," Kara stumbled nervously.

"Girlfriend?", Jessica asked raising her brow.

Kara didn't seem to notice her slip up as she continued, "I just... I have to go back to DEO. Go meet up with James without me."

"Kara wait...", Jessica tried to reach for her only for Kara to quickly fly up and leave her former teammate in the dust. As she watched the big blue girlscout fly away into the night sky, Jessica furrowed her brow as she murmured to herself, "I knew she said girlfriend back there!"

* * *

Supergirl flew into the DEO so fast that she almost cracked every form of glass inside the building. Kara landed so hard that the floor beneath cracked open like an egg. After sheepishly apologizing to the disgruntled janitor who had to clean that, Kara ran up the stairs as fast as she can as she made her way to the medbay.

Standing outside the door was Alex and Director J'onzz.

Kara mumbled almost incoherently, "H-How bad is it? Is she gonna make it? What do you need me to..."

"Kara. Kara," Alex repeated as she tried to soothe her adoptive sister by holding her shoulders, "Slow down. Breathe."

Kara did as she asked and took a deep breath. She continued more calmly, "I'm sorry. What happened?"

J'onn explained, "The man who tried to kill her before attacked her again. This time, he had help."

"My God...", Kara murmured feeling her heart tense up. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. "I should've heard it sooner. I should've... how hurt is she?"

"She's stable," Alex said reassuringly, "I expect her to make a full recovery soon."

Kara let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Rao...", she then asked, "H-How did she make it out? Did the new Green Lantern save her again?"

"About that...", Alex started to say awkwardly.

J'onn said, "There's something you should know."

Kara raised a brow. "What?"

"Lena is the new Green Lantern," J'onn told her.

The news hit Kara like a truck. Her eyes widened, and she held her breath in shock for a second. "W-What... how... how is that even... what?!"

"Apparently, the Starheart chose her to wield the ring," J'onn continued to explain, "From what I was told, she knew how to use the power ring well enough. She managed to hold her own against them, but Lena is... inexperienced. She got hurt, and... well, here we are."

"Lena is the new Green Lantern?", Kara murmured to herself still processing the news. She then moved towards the door, "I need to go see her."

J'onn and Alex moved out of the way to let Kara into the medbay. Inside, Kara's heart broke a little upon seeing Lena laying on one of the beds on her back and unconscious.

"Lena...", Kara murmured softly.

"Kara?", a familiar British voice called out to Kara.

The blonde Kryptonian noticed the other woman in the room, an old acquaintance of hers from her Titans days. Holly Granger.

"Holly?", Kara asked before moving in to hug her, "What are you doing here?"

Holly blushed and cleared her throat as she politely removed herself from Kara's embrace. "I, um, I'm Lena's bodyguard now."

"I see...", Kara said a little weirded out, "What are you doing so far away from Jump City? Did you break up with Madia?"

"We're still going strong, Kara. We just moved in here, in fact," Holly said slightly annoyed, "But I doubt you came here to play catch-up."

"No, I didn't," Kara said before quickly glancing at Lena's unconscious body, "What happened to her? Were you there?"

"I'd be shitty bodyguard if I wasn't," Holly remarked, "It was quite the fight. It's a good thing Green Lantern came along when she did."

"Holly, you don't have to cover for your boss," Kara then informed her, "J'onn told me already."

"Seriously? He shot my boss' secret identity?", Holly scoffed displeased, "And here I thought that Martian had some professional courtesy. Ugh, Ms. Luthor won't be happy to hear this."

"You can trust J'onn. Don't worry," Kara then asked, "Can you just tell me what happened?"

Holly's mind drifted to that harrowing fight. With a tired groan, Holly Granger pulled out of flask of vodka from her coat and took a sip. After letting the drink burn in her throat, Holly began her story by saying, "You may wanna sit down for this."

* * *

**One Hour Ago**

"I heard you just tried to kill Ms. Luthor," Green Lantern said glaring down at the two lady assassins as she floated above them, "Big mistake."

"So you do work for Lena Luthor...", Scandal grumbled with a hint of disgust in her voice.

Knockout added, "Figures Lex's little sister hired goons to do her dirty work. Even on the other side of the law, Luthors are afraid to get their hands dirty."

Lena held in her anger as she continued to glare at the villainesses. By then, Hawk got up. After doing a couple stretches, she looked at Green Lantern and smirked. "At least she pays well, am I right?"

Lantern rolled her eyes before squaring her focus on Scandal Savage and Knockout (and Deadshot as he just got up too). "You all know who I am. You know the power I wield," she said with the most booming voice she could muster and lifting up her shining ring for effect, "And unlike Supergirl, I won't hesitate to kill you if I have to. So walk away now, and forget about the price on Ms. Luthor's head if you know what's good for you."

Scandal whispered to Deadshot, "Floyd. You got the thing?"

"Already loaded it," Deadshot whispered back.

Scandal nodded and turned to her lover. "Meu amor. It's time."

Knockout let out a smirk as she turned to Green Lantern and taunted, "You talk a big game, you Jolly Green Fashion Disaster. But I don't think you have the guts to do us in! Me, on the other hand..."

Knockout let out a primal roar as she lept up several feet into the air to slam herself against Green Lantern. As Knockout made a crater in the ground using Green Lantern's shielded body, Scandal ran forward to intercept Hawk before she could assist her fellow heroine.

Scandal opened with a wide slash aimed at Hawk's abdomen, but the military trained bodyguard quickly stepped back to avoid getting disemboweled. Scandal continued to slash and stab at Hawk, but her quick reflexes allowed her to dodge each and every blow.

"You sure you know how to handle those Wolverine blades, love?", Hawk taunted, "Come on, my fratboy of a brother-in-law has a better aim than you!"

"Shut up and die, hero!", Scandal said as she stepped in and moved for a stab only for Hawk to grab her wrist, stopping her attack, before using her free hand drive her own claws into Scandal's shoulder. "Fuck!", she cursed in pain.

"Oof! That's gonna sting in the morning," Hawk snarked before headbutting Scandal, making stumble back dazed as she removed herself from the Hawk's talons. As she struggled to regain her bearings, Scandal's shoulder wound immediately closed up and healed on its own as if by magic. Hawk chuckled amused. "So that's how you shrugged off that leg wound. You got yourself a healing factor. Nice. This means that I don't have to hold back!"

Hawk tackled Scandal into the ground and began savagely beating Scandal's face with her fists, messing up the villainess' good looks with ugly bruises and excessive face bleeding.

Meanwhile with Green Lantern, she had just thrown Knockout off of her and is squaring her down.

Knockout cracked her knuckles and said, "I've fought my share of Lanterns in my day. Hehe, it's always fun breaking those self-righteous pigs in every sense of the word. I wonder how much punishment you can take before you start begging for mercy?"

"Funny. I was wondering the same about you," Green Lantern said before summoning a rocket launcher construct and firing at Knockout. The explosive shell struck Knockout in the chest and engulfed her body in a green ball of fire.

However, Knockout simply stepped out of the smoke with nothing more than a few scratches. Wiping off some of the dirt on her shoulder playfully, she chuckled and asked, "That the best you got, princess?"

Green Lantern snarled as fired another rocket at Knockout only for her to knock it aside with the back of her fist before charging at Lena. GL flew forward to charge as well, but as she flew, Lena encased herself inside a construct of an old train car before rolling towards Knockout full speed ahead. Knockout let out an ecstatic grin as she met the train construct head-on and caught it with her bare hands. Although the impact of the train pushed Knockout back a bit, the alien warrior slowed the train to grinding halt as the ground beneath her started to crack under the weight of the Herculean feat.

"That's better!", Knockout said with a snicker, "But let's see how long these little constructs of yours lasts!"

Using her left fist, Knockout began pounding on the train construct while her other hand held the train back. Knockout's super strong punches started to crack the train construct. Green Lantern winced as she felt the cruel impact of each brutish blow. Despite the pain, however, Lena managed to let out a smirked as she looked over Knockout's shoulder.

BOOM!

"GUOOAAHH!", Knockout screamed as she ungraciously slammed her face into the train construct with her back getting pelted by an explosion caused by Lena's rocket (which flew into the air and was in standby until now) that Kay knocked away earlier.

With Knockout's grip over the train loosened, Green Lantern was able to power through and run over her alien opponent with her train construct, which now included a couple more cars strapped behind the Lena's engine car. Although she suffered no permanent damage, Knockout screamed in agony as she felt her skin being burned by rapid wheels and her bones being bent by the sheer weight of the construct.

After running the length of the construct over Knockout's body, Green Lantern disengaged her construct before turning around to see the alien woman warrior groaning on the concrete trench she had made. Smirking with satisfaction, Green Lantern floated above her opponent before pointing her ringed fist at Knockout, ready to restrain her with another construct.

While all this chaos is happening, Deadshot had been standing all by his lonesome as the ladies were duking it out with each other. He had been waiting for an opportunity for Green Lantern to be properly exposed as he prepared to line up a shot with one of his gauntlet guns. Now that GL was finished with Knockout at the moment, Deadshot got his perfect shot lined up.

"Gotcha," Deadshot said with an eager chuckle. However, his shot was ruined when his gauntlet was kicked away by Dove, who had just sneaked up to him. "Fuck!"

Dove attempted to make eye contact with Deadshot and put the assassin under his control again. However, Deadshot got wise to his act as he immediately looked away and boxed Dove in the eye.

"Agh! What the hell?!", Dove whined as he tried to rub the stinging pain off his right eye.

Deadshot aimed at Green Lantern again only for an irate Dove to tackle him before using his powers to fly the assassin up into the air with his arms pinned to his sides.

"Get off me, bitch!", Deadshot screamed as he tried to knock Dove off with a headbutt to the face. However, Dove was unfazed by Deadshot's hit, and he headbutt him back in retaliation. Deadshot felt his head spine as his nose broke. Spitting out blood, Deadshot shouted, "Fuck!", he then turned to Scandal, who was busy getting her face flattened by Hawk, and shouted at her, "Scandal! A little help!"

Scandal grunted as her healing factor struggled to keep up with Hawk's furious punches.

Hawk grunted annoyed as she spoke, "Damn you, woman! Just go bloody unconscious already!"

Due to her teeth being almost completely crushed at the time, Scandal could only curse at Hawk with gargling noises. However, she was able to remove one of her arms from Hawk's legs after great effort before plunging one of her wrist blades into the heroine's ribs.

"Fucking hell!", Hawk cursed as she clutched her wounded side and stumbled back from Scandal.

The Brazilian assassin then forced herself back up to throw a sticky bomb at Hawk's chest while she was trembling in pain. Once Scandal detonated the plastic explosive, Hawk screamed as the explosion sent her flying. While her magical durability prevented Hawk from dying, she was rendered unconscious once she was laid out on the ground.

After spitting out blood (and chunks of her teeth), Scandal then turned to Dove, whose back was turned on her, before throwing a flechette at him. The small, dart-like projectile stabbed into Dove's shoulder blade, making him scream as he let go of Deadshot and fell into the ground unconscious due to the tranquilizer that Scandal coated into the blade.

"Thank you!", Deadshot shouted as he lined up a shot as he fell. However, as soon as Dove fell, Scandal dropped as well due to blood loss and (admittedly repairable) brain damage. Deadshot ignored that as he aimed down the sight of his gauntlet gun in midair and fired off his special bullet.

Green Lantern had restrained the cranky Knockout with (unintentionally kinky) chains when she heard the shot. Lena quickly turned around and formed a medieval shield construct to block the bullet. However, once the bullet crashed into the shield construct, it released a cloud of green gas. By the time Green Lantern noticed the noxious gas cloud, it was too late. She inhaled a good whiff of the gas and let out pained coughs.

"What... what the hell is this?", Green Lantern wheezed in an agonizing manner.

Deadshot landed on his feet as he smirked and explained to the rookie heroine. "That's fear toxin! Courtesy of Doctor Jonathan Crane! They say that you Green Lanterns have unbreakable wills, but let's see how well that holds once you start seeing your worst fears!"

"Oh goddammit," Lena cursed under her breath as her lack of concentration caused Knockout's chains to disappear. Green Lantern continued to cough harder and harder feeling as if her lungs were on fire. Lena's heard of Doctor Crane's infamous fear toxin. She read the news. The gas is a strong hallucinogen that forces victims to experience their worst fears usually until said victim goes into cardiac arrest and dies. What's worse about her current situation is that her powers derived from willpower, i.e. courage. This damn gas will render the one thing that's keeping Lena alive in this fight useless. "No! I can't give in now!", Lena spoke to herself defiantly, "A Green Lantern's will is unbreakable! I have to stay strong! For mom! For grandpa!"

"Oh poor, naive Lena...", an chillingly familiar female voice spoke out before Lena felt a super strong punch impact her cheek.

Green Lantern grunted as she flew into the air before tumbling on the ground like a tumbleweed. Lena spat out the blood in her mouth before looking up to see an older woman wearing a black armored suit, a long black cape over her back, and an elegant crown that denotes the woman's royal status.

Lena snarled as she stood up and faced the hated woman. "Rhea..."

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait," Kara interrupted Holly's story as she waved her hands in disbelief, "How did you know about the parts you weren't conscious for?"

Holly shrugged. "J'onn read the assassins' minds while they were out."

"And how did you know what Lena was hallucinating about?"

Holly paused for a moment.

She then shrugged. "I inferred."

Kara groaned loudly in frustration.

* * *

Meanwhile back outside the medbay, Director J'onzz stands alone as he reads vital information off of a tablet. He would be soon joined by Aya, who had just flown from over the railings to meet him.

She addressed him in her usual robotic tone. "Director J'onzz."

J'onn looked up from his tablet. Putting it away, he asked, "Yes?"

"I would like an update on Lena Luthor's health. Is she stable?"

J'onn nodded. "The worst is over. We patched up her wounds. Nothing serious. Our biggest concern was the fear toxin in her system, but the medics tell me that it should be cleared out by the time she wakes up."

"That is... fortunate," Aya said in an odd tone.

J'onn noticed that and asked, "What do you mean by that?", Aya remained silent for a moment as she looked like she was gathering her thoughts, "Aya?"

Aya had been scanning Lena's unconscious form through the glass. She looked back at J'onn and said, "Lena Luthor's body has been saturated by the Starheart's energies. It is not unlike the energy signatures of the Corps' Green Lanterns, except that the energy seems to be much more... embedded. It's as if her body fused with her ring."

"And what does that mean?"

"I suspect that an attempt to sever Lena Luthor's connection with the Starheart will result in her demise," Aya concluded.

"One more reason why you shouldn't take the ring from her," J'onn said only to be met by more silence. This unnerved him. He couldn't read Aya's mind due to her synthetic nature, and he could barely tell what Aya was thinking with her continually blank facial expressions. He had to ask, "Please tell me you're not considering it again."

"My directive still stands," Aya said with a disturbing amount of certainty in her voice, "Unless Lena Luthor can prove to me that she can handle the responsibility that comes with being a Green Lantern, I must take away her power before she could harm anyone with the misuse of her powers."

J'onn tried to hide his concern as he countered, "Shouldn't a decision like that wait until Lena is awake? Shouldn't we let her have the chance to defend herself before we do something so... lethal to her?"

"I suppose we should," Aya said before she started to walk into the medbay.

J'onn grabbed her arm and stopped her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to give Lena Luthor the chance to defend herself," Aya replied.

"But she's unconscious," J'onn pointed out, "I know you Green Lanterns are powerful, but I'm pretty sure you can't wake people up from a coma."

"Simon Baz did. Once," Aya informed him, "He used his powers to heal seemingly impossible ailments. He was able to temporarily cure a Red Lantern of her rage, and more pertinently, he was able to wake his brother-in-law from his coma. I do not possess the willpower to do what he did, but I can resonate my green energy with Lena's via her ring to generate enough power to accelerate the healing process and wake her up."

"That sounds... drastic," J'onn said, "And potentially dangerous. Wouldn't it be safer for Lena if you just wait for her to wake up."

"It would," Aya then said, "But this dilemma is causing... unneeded distress. My programming and directives are conflicting with... alternative suggestions. There is a force within me that I cannot explain that is making following orders... difficult."

"Sounds to me that you're growing a conscious," J'onn observed.

"Whatever it is, I must resolve it as soon as possible," Aya said before shrugging off J'onn and entering the DEO medbay. Aya walked past Holly and Kara while the former is recounting her story to her friend. While they weren't looking, Aya hovered over Lena's unconscious body and lifted up the hand that held her ring. The android lifted her palm over the Starheart ring.

As Aya's eyes glowed a luminescent green, she began channeling the green light of willpower into the Starheart ring via the blaster pad of her palm. In turn, Lena's ring glowed a matching emerald aura that took in Aya's energy and reflected its own energy back. This resonance effect caused the bodies of both women to be enveloped by a shimmering green aura, the brilliance of which is reminiscent to the surface of an emerald star.

The intense glow of light was enough to catch the attention of Holly and Kara. The two Titans had to shield their eyes from the blinding light; it was that intense. J'onn entered the room and was wincing just as pained as the two women.

"What the hell is she doing to her?", Kara asked with a spike of fear forming in her worried heart.

"Aya is accelerating Lena's healing by combining their energies together," J'onn informed, "Apparently she wants to interrogate her sooner rather than later."

"A little overkill don't you think?", Holly snarked, "Is it safe?"

"She told me that something like this has been done before."

Kara piped up still worried. "But is it safe?"

"I know what I am doing," Aya spoke coldly as the twin auras flashed one more time, forcing everyone else in the room to shut their eyes completely and wince in pain. Once the lights died out, Aya took a step back. The organic trio opened their sore eyes to see Lena stirring in her bed before slowly getting up.

Groaning, she said, "Ugh... where... where am I?"

"Lena!", an overjoyed Kara shouted as she rushed over to Lena's bedside and hugged her dearest one, "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"I, uh, yeah...", Lena said both confused and a little flustered at Kara's intimate gesture. She quickly relaxed in Kara's embrace and hugged her back. "Kara...", she whispered fondly.

Kara then pulled away and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I feel a little... sore, but other than that, I've been worse," Lena answered, "What happened?"

"That is what I want to know," Aya spoke up without a modicum of tact.

Lena squinted at her curiously. "And you are..."

"Green Lantern 2814.7," Aya answered with cold professionalism, "Now that you're awake, I have questions that need to be answered."

"Is now really the time?", J'onn said in disapproval, "She just got up from a coma."

"She's well enough to talk," Aya countered.

Kara glared at the insensitive android and said, "She needs rest."

"Kara, it's okay," Lena said holding her beloved's arm reassuringly. Kara's face relaxed as she gave Lena an uncertain look. Lena Luthor turned to Aya and asked, "What do you wish to know?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking this long to update, and I'm even more sorry to make this a three parter.
> 
> The reason why I took so long to update was because I was starting to think about dropping this story. Don't worry, I have thankfully changed my mind. However, that's only because I came up with an idea to save this story. To do this, I plan to end this story after the resolution of Showdown either next chapter or the one after that. I'll then upload a sequel story that will serve as a sort of soft reboot to continue this story in a way that goes in line with my new vision. You'll know how when you see it.
> 
> Sorry if this seems a little too drastic, but it's either breathe new life into this story via the soft reboot or full cancellation. This way, I won't fall to my habit of stopping stories before they truly begin. I hope you all understand.
> 
> I hope to see you all next chapter and beyond. Until then, thanks for the read and have a nice day.


	9. Showdown (Part 3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we begin, let me clarify that this Earth-38 is not the same as the Arrowverse's Earth-38. Its designation is Earth-38B, in fact. It will become more clear why by the end of this chapter.

**Then**

"Rhea...", Lena growled at the image of the alien woman who betrayed her so deeply.

"Hello again, Lena. I'd say it's good to see you again, but...", Rhea frowned and cracked her knuckles, "That would be a lie. You're going to pay for having me killed, little girl."

"I'm not afraid of you!", Lena said shaking.

"We'll see about that," Rhea said with a wicked smirk as she charged at her former partner.

Green Lantern fired an energy blast from her ring only for Rhea to shrug it off like it was nothing. Before GL had time to process this little failure, Rhea quickly closed the distance and tackled Lena to the ground. She wheezed in pain as Green Lantern felt her ribcage being beared down by a superhuman weight.

Rhea sat up and began to pound Lena in the ground with her fists. As Lena put her arms up to defend against this, Rhea shouted, "You're a coward! You didn't even have the guts to kill me yourself! You needed Supergirl and that machine to save you from my wrath! I won't be so passive with your demise!"

"Shut up!", Lena said before using her anger to muster enough courage to fire a powerful enough energy blast from her ring at Rhea's chest to send her flying into the air. Green Lantern slowly got up, a little beaten, as she shouted back, "You betrayed my trust! You threatened to level my city into the ground all for the sake of conquest! If anyone in this universe deserved to die, it's you!"

Green Lantern fired another energy blast only for Rhea to cross her arms and fully tank the hit.

The alien queen laughed. "That may be the case, but I wasn't the one who broke Kara's heart!"

The formerly firm Lena Luthor quivered upon hearing that. "What?"

BANG!

"Agh!", Lena screamed as she felt a sharp pain suddenly strike her back. GL was struck by a bullet. Her personal shields weren't strong enough to deflect the shot, but they were strong enough to slow the bullet down and only embed itself to her skin on a surface level. Not that it was much of a consolation as Green Lantern was forced to her knees and groaned in agony.

It was then that a bearded bald man walked up behind Lena with a smoking pistol in his hands. "She's right, you know," he said with an all too familiar smugness.

"Lex...", Lena growled and swiftly turn around to smack her evil brother with a fist charged with green energy. However, Lex easily dodged Lena's punch, who was starting to feel a little delirium from the fear toxin.

Lex then pistol whipped his sister, bloodying her mouth, as she flopped to the ground.

He said, "I may be an evil bastard, but you hurt your Kryptonian more than I ever did mine. What's the deal, sis? I thought you loved that roach?"

Lena slowly got up as she gave her brother a death glare. "Don't call her that..."

She was about to fire another energy blast when Rhea stepped in to punch Lena in the face, putting her on the ground again.

Rhea joined in with the taunting. "Why deny it? We both know it's true."

Lex chimed in, "You modified my machine to line with atmosphere with lead. Because of you, Kara's _true love_ had to leave the planet. I know you wanted her all to yourself, Lee, but I didn't know you'd go that far. I'm kinda impressed. You're almost as devious as I am."

"I'm nothing like you!", Lena shouted as she tried to get back up. However, Rhea kicked her back down again.

"You can't lie. Not to us. You know we're telling the truth," Rhea spoke coldly.

"You hated that Daxamite fop," Lex continued for her, "You hated that he had your precious little Kara Danvers wrapped around his little finger. And can you really blame her? Why would Kara ever want someone as damaged as you?"

"Someone who got two of her supposed friends killed and has lied to everyone that she's nothing like her family," Rhea added, "Why would someone as perfect and innocent as Kara love a hypocrite like you?"

"Face it, sis," Lex added, "If your real mom could see you right now, she'd be so disappointed in the woman you become."

"You're a villain. Just like the rest of the Luthors," Rhea said with a sadistic smile on her face, "No wonder Kara only wanted you for your body. It's the only good thing you have going for you."

"Stop it... stop it...", Lena cried out meekly as she got to her knees and her Green Lantern form faded away to reveal the woman beneath the costume.

"You're pathetic, sis," Lex spat.

"The world would be better off without you polluting it," Rhea said as she and Lex moved in to clobber Lena with their fists.

At some point in this pain induced haze, Lena passed out.

* * *

When she woke up, Lena confusingly found herself standing in the middle of the ruins of National City. Its once proud buildings were reduced to rubble. The iconic Catco logo was just among the pile like trash. It was nightmare.

"What the hell?", Lena said in horror of her surroundings. In the middle of what used to be an intersection was Kara Danvers, who was writhing in the ground in pain with bright green veins growing out from her neck. Very familiar green veins. Lena looked up in shock to see that the sky was now green, and she looked over to the side to see the atmospheric device she used on the Daxamites. "Oh no..."

Lena kicked the machine down in her rage before rushing over to the dying Kara. She knelt down and held the Kryptonian in her arms as she said with choking tears, "You're going to be fine! You're going to be fine! Stay with me Kara!"

"Lena... why?", Kara groaned weakly as she looked at Lena with eyes that broke her heart, "Why did you... do this? Why did you... kill me?"

"What?!", Lena shouted in horror, "I didn't... I didn't!"

"You... killed me. You... destroy everything you touch," Kara said with a hint of anger in her dying blue eyes, "I was right not to... not to love you..."

"Kara don't!"

Kara let out one last breath before her body went limp and she died in Lena's arms. Her dead eyes continued to stare at Lena as if in silent judgement. Lena felt her eyes flood with tears as she let out a wail.

She hugged Kara's cold body close as she whispered. "I'm sorry, Kara. I'm so..."

* * *

"... sorry," Lena repeated as lied on the ground now in a completely delirious state.

Knockout looked at Deadshot with an unimpressed look in her face. "Lena Luthor's the new Green Lantern, huh? I got to admit. I thought she'd be less... this. I didn't think a little fear toxin would do this much to someone who supposedly has an unbreakable will."

"You know these billionaire types, Kay," Deadshot said with a dismissive scoff, "Their bark is worse than their bite."

"Don't I know it," Knockout said before looking back at the quivering Lena Luthor, "I remember breaking Green Lanterns being more fun than this. Damn, this really puts me out of the mood."

"Well, if you're that bored, let's just put a bullet in her head and be done with it," Deadshot said raising one of gauntlet guns.

"Wait," Knockout interrupted with an excited smile, "Shoot her in the gut! Do her in nice and slow! That ought to make up for that lackluster fight."

Deadshot looked at his friend disgusted. "You're a sick freak. You know that, right?"

"I'm from Apokolips, man. What did you expect?", Knockout said in her defense.

"Whatever. Does the job either way," Deadshot said before firing a shot at Lena's gut.

"GAAAHH!", Lena screamed as she clutched her bleeding abdomen.

As Lena screamed, Knockout took in her pain with ecstasy. "There we go... those screams! That agony! It's so...", Knockout's smile dropped as she let out a big sigh, "Disappointing. Damn it, she can't even die right! You know what, Floyd? Just kill her. I don't care anymore."

"I worry about you sometimes," Deadshot said before aiming his gauntlet gun at Lena Luthor's head.

Before he could pull the trigger, however, Hawk suddenly came up behind him to pin his arms to his sides in a full nelson. Before Deadshot could react, Hawk slammed him into the ground, laying him out for the moment.

"A little fight in you," Knockout said as she rushed to her enemy, "I like that in a woman!", she then tackled Hawk into the ground, "Maybe you can satisfy me better than that Luthor girl!"

Knockout then began to slam the weakened Hawk on the ground. As she did so, the addled gears inside Lena's head began to turn curiously as she lost more blood.

* * *

Lena continued to hold Kara's dead body close as she murmured weakly. "They're right... they're all right! I'm a terrible person! A hypocrite! I was a fool to think someone like me could redeem the Luthor name... maybe the world would be better off without me..."

"Don't say that...", an older voice told her. Lena looked up to see an old man with graying blonde hair, who was wearing the same Green Lantern outfit as her. "I certainly don't think so."

Lena sniffled. She recognized this man from all the photos her real mom has of him. She looked at him in shock as she whispered, "Grandpa..."

"Yeah, kid. It's me," Alan Scott said, "None of this is real you know."

With a wave of his hand, Alan wiped away the ruined landscape including the dead body in Lena's arms. With a wave of green energy, Alan Scott transported himself and his granddaughter to Lena's happy place.

The living room of her childhood home.

Alan took a seat on the couch and beckoned his granddaughter. "Come Lena. Sit."

Drying out her tears, Lena got up and took a seat next to the grandfather she admired so much.

Lena looked at him, however, and shook her head. "You're not real either. You're just some figment of my imagination before slipping to a death that I rightly deserve."

"Maybe. I could be that. Or...", Alan said before placing his hand over his granddaughter's shoulder, "I could just be an old man worried about his family."

Lena looked away from him in shame. "You died when I was born..."

"My dear, people die, but no one's ever really gone," Alan countered, "People live on in the memory of their loved ones. In the good times and the bad. In the lessons they learned from them. Both good and ill. I passed all this to your mother a long time ago, you know. And she passed on that strength to you."

"Her strength?", Lena scoffed, "I don't see it. I'm more a Luthor now than a Hayden or a Scott. She'd be so disappointed in me...", Lena started to break down in tears, "I have all these memories of mom... about how wonderful she was. How kind. When I think about her, all I'm left with is the realization that... that... I'm nothing like her! I'm the only thing she left behind in this world, and... I'm such a disappointment!", Alan continued to listen intently Lena broke down, "I tried do good. I really tried. But all I do is hurt the people I love! Everything I tried to do. L-Corp. Working with Supergirl. Being the new Green Lantern... I messed it all up! Why did this stupid ring even choose me? Can't it see how much of a screwup I am?"

"People make mistakes..."

"Mistakes?", Lena said suddenly shouting, "I was happy when Mon-El was sent away! Okay, I was happy to see him gone! Some sick, twisted part inside of me was happy that my best friend's boyfriend was gone forever so that I could have her all to myself! What kind of person would even think about something like that? Kara was devastated because of my actions, and all I could think about was how happy I am that she's single now! That's despicable. That's... that's evil," Lena sniffled, "I'm nothing like you, Grandpa. I'm not worthy of your mantle..."

Alan paused for a minute before saying, "You don't think I had my own share of regrets when I was the Green Lantern, Lena?", she turned to him curiously as he continued, "After the war, I met a woman. Rose Canton. I loved her, but she was... troubled. She had this split personality called Thorn, who had powers. I knew this, but I didn't care. I loved her, and I wanted to help her. Just like how you wanted to help Kara."

Lena's face turned sullen. "Was she my grandmother?"

With a heavy sigh, Alan answered, "Yes."

"What happened to her?"

"We tried to get rid of Thorn. We tried everything. Science, magic... nothing worked. And Rose just continued to get worse. Thorn was coming out more and more. And one day, I saw that Thorn tried to smother your mother as she slept. I stopped her in time, of course. But that scared me, and after failing to find a cure for years, I thought there was no hope left for her," he suppressed a tear as he continued, "One night, I saw Rose setting up a noose in our attic, and... I let her hang herself."

"My God...", Lena whispered horrified.

Alan continued, "And the worst part was that a friend of mine from Themyscira told me that she found a cure the next day. A rare plant with extraordinary properties. I carried that regret to the grave. That I... that I let my own wife die for nothing."

"That's... that's horrible," Lena said as she comforted her grandfather by holding his hand, "I'm sorry."

Alan steeled himself as he continued. "The ring... it didn't choose me because I was perfect. I was wholly unprepared for the life it thrusted me into. The danger, the hardship, the... heartbreak," Alan sighed, "I made so many mistakes along the way. There were others who wore this ring before me, you know. I used to worry about how I could stack up to heroes like Chang the Lantern-Maker who used the Starheart to save all of China from an alien invasion. Or M'la, the alien warrioress who helped the Amazons defeat the evil god, Ares. I didn't think some nobody from Gotham was worthy to stand amongst those giants. Even less so after Rose... but the spirits of all those who came before me are still there. In the Starheart. They guided me through the darkest of times, and helped me stop the greatest of threats. They gave me their strength as I gave your mother mine when it was her time to wield this power. And now, we do the same for you."

Lena's eyes widened in shock. "Mom? She..."

Alan nodded. "Yeah, she did. I'd say out of all of us, she was the greatest Green Lantern," the old man then stood up and removed the green ring from his finger, "I dare you to do better."

Lena's throat felt dry at this realization. Her mother was a hero. Lena always thought the world of her mother, but she could never imagine...

"But now it's up to me to honor that legacy," Lena thought to herself before standing up and nodding to her grandfather.

Alan smiled as his granddaughter took the ring from his hand and put it on her finger.

* * *

SMASH!

"Guh!", a heavily bruised Hawk grunted as Knockout laid her out with an uppercut. Hawk tried to get back up, but she collapses, paralyzed in agony.

Knockout laughed with satisfaction as she said, "Was it good for you too?"

"Gah... fuck you," Hawk groaned.

"Lick your wounds, little bird," Knockout said before turning back to Lena, "We'll finish this once I'm done with business," Knockout walked over to Lena's limp form and lifted her up by the collar, "You know, that chipmunk Green Lantern put up more of fight than you. If you're still conscious enough to listen to me, know that you're less than a _chipmunk_! Well, at least you have the decency of having a nice bounty on your head. Speaking of which," Knockout pulled a knife from her belt, "See you in hell, babe," Knockout thrusted her blade only for the knife to shatter into a million pieces at Lena's green charged palm, "What the... agh!"

Out of nowhere, Lena's eyes lit up with green energy as she fired an blast from her ring right into Knockout's chest. The force of the blast launched Knockout into the air as she tumbled into the floor in a smoking heap.

Knockout snarled as she suppressed her pain. She got up, but then the alien warrior woman noticed a brilliant green glow emanating from her side. Knockout glared at the source of the light, but instead of L-Corp CEO Lena Luthor, she found someone else.

She found something else.

Dove ran over to his partner and picked her up. As he did so, Dove looked at the light and asked, "You seeing this too?"

Hawk squinted at the light, almost not believing what she's seeing, as she nodded. "Yeah..."

Lena was back in her blonde Green Lantern form, but it was... different to say the least.

Instead of the the caped and colorful disaster that is Lena's previous costume, she was now covered by plate armor like a medieval knight with her ring now fused to the finger of her right gauntlet. Her armor consisted of green metal plates with white chainmail connecting the pieces of her armor. Her chestplate now includes an engraved lantern face leading to a bright green core. And Lena's domino mask is now replaced by a green, cowl-like helmet that covers the top and sides of her head but allows her long blonde hair to flow out underneath like a golden waterfall.

With her eyes now perpetually glowing with green power, Deadshot looked up from the ground and shook his head. "Fuck this noise. I'm out," he said before discreetly running away.

Green Lantern looked at Knockout with a cold, tranquil glare as she spoke with the voices of all the Lanterns that came before her, **"You have besmirched the name of the Green Lantern. We have awakened to answer your insult with the full might of the Starheart."**

Knockout scoffed. "So what if you got a new outfit and a creepier voice? Big deal! Crane's fear toxin is still in your system! That means your precious willpower is nothing to me! _You_ are nothing to me!"

**"Perhaps, but I'm no longer alone," **Green Lantern said before firing something out of the lantern in her chest. The energy blast morphed mid-flight into a construct of Alan Scott in his prime.

Alan Scott flew forward and punched Knockout in the face before disappearing. The force of the punch sent the superhumanly strong Knockout flying. She crashed into the ground with a pained grunt. When she got back up, Lena saw that she had transformed (in her point of view) to Queen Rhea.

"You're now letting dead men fight your battles for you?", she mocked, "I didn't think you'd become even more pathetic!"

Green Lantern remained silent as Rhea charged at her before lunging with her fists high. However, another past Green Lantern, Chang the Lantern-Maker, shot out of Lena's chest to collide with Knockout by hitting her with a big lantern construct connected to a chain.

As Rhea landed on her feet with a pained scoff, Chang disappeared to allow Green Lantern to summon a fighter jet construct. Lena tossed the accelerating plane at Rhea, who responded leaping and attempting to punch the construct away with a punch. However, the punch barely dented the jet, and it crashed into Rhea. It collided with the Daxamite queen and exploded on the ground.

Once the smoke cleared, it was Lex who stepped into the light as he taunted Lena, "Is that the best you got, sis? You're not very good at this hero bus-"

BLAM!

A construct of Green Lantern M'la shot forward and peppered Lex with a barrage of energy blasts, which staggered him and briefly forced the bald man on his knees. Lena's brother quickly got up with an angry roar as he charged forward to smash the past Green Lantern, only for M'la to disappear and make Lex almost trip himself.

Lena then flew forward and tackled Lex. The Green Lantern took her brother into the air. He tried to use his super strength to pound on Lena and force her to drop him, but Green Lantern, in her empowered state, barely flinched. Finally, she tossed Lex away before summoning a big hammer construct to slam Lex into the ground with a downward swing.

Lex crashed on the ground, making a sizable crater in the concrete. Once dust settled, Lex coughed as he got up to look at Lena with a hate filled glare.

"You think this makes you better than me?!", Lex shouted, "News flash, sis, you'll never be rid of me! You'll never escape my shadow no matter how hard you try! You might win today and go on parading around like some kind of hero. But deep down, you know the truth. You're a Luthor! And that's all you'll ever be, Lena!"

Green Lantern simply looked down at Lex and answered, **"I am a Luthor. That's true. But I am also a Hayden. And a Scott. You and Lillian may be villains, but I'm done comparing myself to you. From now on, my path is my own! And I choose to honor the legacy of my mother and grandfather. And all those who wore this ring before me!,"** with that declaration, the light in Lena's chestplate shined brilliantly as the images of all the past Lanterns began to shine behind her,** "I refuse to live in your darkness. For the darkness cannot stand against the light. The light of the Green Lantern!"**

With that proud cry, Lena roared and fired a powerful stream of pure willpower from her chest. The energy blast cracked the air like a furious lightning bolt as it raced down and struck Lex Luthor with the fury of an angry god. The blast exploded and enveloped Lex in a white light. The man screamed in agony as he felt the full brunt of his sister's wrath.

The explosion completely cleared a good chunk of concrete as Knockout can be seen writhing amidst the dirt crater. She moaned and tried to pick herself up only to collapse back down and lose consciousness.

With the battle over, Lena's supercharged Green Lantern form gave out as she reverted back to her civilian clothes. She then quickly fainted as her powers gave out. Lena was about to drop several feet into the hard ground, but thankfully, Hawk was able to leap high into the air and catch Lena before she could go splat.

Now safe in her arms, Hawk turned back into bodyguard, Holly Granger, as she looked at her unconscious boss with amazement.

"That was fucking awesome," she said with a smirk.

* * *

**Now**

"That's my story," Lena finished telling her tale to the four people in the medbay.

"So you unlocked the full power of the Starheart and managed to defeat an Apokoliptian warrior all by yourself while under the influence of a powerful hallucinogen," J'onn summarized before nodding in approval, "Nice."

"I wouldn't say I unlocked all of the Starheart's power necessarily," Lena corrected, "I honestly don't know how to activate this power again on my own, and I suspect that my predecessors only lent me only a fraction of their power. It's more of a loan, I think."

"Whatever you call it, it was amazing that you managed to do all that," Kara said with a warm smile, "I'm proud of you."

Lena felt her insides light up at seeing Kara's smile. She then looked at Holly and asked, "What happened to Deadshot? I remember that he escaped."

"Dove is chasing him down. He'll be joining his mates in prison soon enough," Holly said.

"You two make a great team," Lena complimented.

"The best," Holly then turned to Aya, "I was there, GLaDOS. I can confirm my boss' story."

"I am capable of reading the body language of over a trillion species with a 99.995 percent certainty," Aya shot back, "I know she is telling the truth. Your input is not required," Holly glared at the insolent robot with disdain as she turned back to face Lena Luthor, "The ring you wield is possibly the most powerful weapon in the history of the universe, Ms. Luthor."

"I gathered that much," Lena said shrugging.

"Ms. Luthor. To wield the power of a Green Lantern is considered to be a great honor in the wider universe... as well as a great burden. Lanterns inducted into the Corps learn that the power they wield, while capable of doing much good, has potential to do great harm when abused. History speaks of many Green Lanterns who become intoxicated by their own power. These Lanterns would use their rings to commit great and terrible acts before ultimately destroying themselves. And so, the path of Green Lantern must be one governed by immense discipline lest you fall victim to the power the ring grants you. Do you understand what I am saying, Ms. Luthor."

"Pretty much. With great power comes great responsibility, right?", Lena quipped.

"I am serious-"

"And so am I," Lena interrupted, "I get what you are trying to say. I know more than anyone about how power seduces people. Corrupts them. I've seen it happen to too many people. I saw my brother and stepmother succumb to it. But rest assured, Green Lantern, that it won't happen to me. I would sooner die than let that happen. You have my word on that."

Aya stared at Lena intently for a moment. "I sense much conviction behind those words."

Lena smiled. "I got that from my mother."

"So it would seem," Aya paused for what seemed like an eternity before finally saying, "Lena Luthor. Taking to account all the information available to me, I conclude that you... have the potential of being a worthy Green Lantern. I will cease my pursuit for the Starheart and relay to my superiors in Oa that it is forever lost to us, but on one condition. I will train you in the proper use of your powers. Do we have an accord?"

Lena let out a pained grunt and forced herself to her feet. Kara tried to reach out to support her, but Lena quietly insisted that she'll be fine. She walked over to Aya.

After looking at the robot Lantern for a moment, Lena outstretched her hand to her and said, "You got yourself a deal... Green Lantern."

"I look forward to working with you in secret... Green Lantern," Aya spoke back as she shook Lena's hand.

"Hooray," Holly said more out of snark than any real joy, "This calls for a celebratory drink. Hey boss, considering you're officially the new Green Lantern now and you're rich, care to buy us all a few... dozen rounds?"

"Maybe later," Lena joked turning to Kara. The beautiful blonde was smiling at her, but Lena looked more somber. She said, "Can you all give me and Kara the room?"

"Sure," J'onn said as he was the first to walk out the door.

"Whatever you say, love," Holly said following him, "Remember those drinks. I will."

Aya followed them too, but not before saying, "Our first lesson will begin tomorrow, Ms. Luthor. Don't be late."

Once everyone was gone, Kara spoke, "So first James and now you. Wow, everyone in my life is turning into a superhero. Who's next? My mom? Winn?"

"You got to admit, he does have potential," Lena said half joking.

Kara laughed. "I'm pretty sure he's better behind a computer rather than in the field fighting Livewire or something. If he had a power ring of his own, maybe..."

Lena then interrupted with a more serious tone. "Kara, what are we doing?"

Kara raised her brow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what are we doing about... us," Lena answered nervously, "Our... arrangement. What is even the point of it?"

Kara sighed. "It's just supposed to be a casual thing, remember? A way to blow off some steam. You know, fun."

"Well, I didn't find it fun," Lena said before remaining silent for a moment, "When I first... proposed it, I thought I was helping you keep yourself together. You were so broken up after Mon-El left, and I wanted to help you. But after getting dosed by Deadshot's fear toxin, I realized that there's a bigger reason why I kept up this arrangement for this long."

"What is it?"

Lena bit her lip with hesitation before finally gathering the courage to say, "I'm in love with you, and I have been for a long time now."

The news hit Kara Danvers like a truck as she took a moment to gasp. "L-Lena. I... I didn't know. You... you seemed to..."

"I know. I haven't felt this way about someone for, well, a long time. Both times didn't really end that well, so I guess I was so used to hiding my true feelings out of instinct."

"Both times?"

"A story for another day," Lena said sadly thinking about the late Thea Merlyn, "But my point is that our arrangement was really my vain attempt of getting close to you. I wanted so badly to be with you, but I just didn't know how to given your... emotional state. And so... I came up with this. I thought... I thought I would be satisfied with this, but..."

"You're not," Kara finished for Lena, "Not anymore."

Lena nodded feeling very vulnerable. "Yes. The fear toxin made me realize that I can't lie to myself anymore. I can't keep having sex with you and pretend that I don't feel the way I feel about you. I just can't, Kara. Not anymore."

"I'm sorry you had to feel that way."

Lena chuckled dryly. "Look at you. I admitted that I was using you for my own gratification, and your first instinct is to apologize that I felt that I had to hide my feelings for you. I mean, that's... you are so pure, Kara. Better than I deserve."

"That's not true, Lena."

"Maybe," Lena sighed, "You know where I stand about us now, Kara. But... do you... can you feel the same way about me?"

Kara blushed before looking away with shame. "Lena... I admit. I do feel... something between us. You're... honestly the most amazing woman I've ever met," Lena smiled but then Kara continued, "But my feelings on the matter aren't important. Lena, I have responsibilities as a hero. I can't let... personal engagements get in the way of that. I need to focus when I go out there as Supergirl. People will get hurt if I don't, and... it wouldn't be fair to you. I just don't have time for a relationship right now."

"I understand that," Lena said nodding, "Really, I do. But I can't share my bed with someone who can't commit. Kara, I want a partner. Someone who I can depend on for... more than just sex. I don't blame you for not wanting to be that, but..."

"We can't be together anymore then," Kara finished for Lena.

Lena nodded shakily, suppressing her own tears, before moving close to Kara and wrapping her arms around her shoulders in an intimate embrace. "I know how that being a hero means sacrificing parts of your life for the greater good. I know it's not... convenient for relationships. But love isn't easy even without all that. Nor should it be."

Kara chuckled. "It's funny. I told Mon-El something similar when we first got together."

"Great minds," Lena smiled back, "I know it doesn't feel like it now, but you can be happy and be Supergirl at the same time. If anyone deserves that, it would be you. So please, do me a favor and open your heart up to love, okay? It might take a long time, but when an opportunity for love comes again, please, _please_ don't pass it up. Even if it's not with me."

"Lena, I...", Kara stumbled not knowing exactly what to say. But then she looked into Lena's pleading eyes, and suddenly she felt warm inside again. The same warmth that made her feel so alive whenever she felt love for someone so amazing. Kara took Lena's hands and held them and said, "I'll try. I can't promise anything, but I'll try."

"That's all I ask," Lena then moved in to kiss Kara in the cheek, "You deserve more than the tragedies life keeps throwing your way. I hope you know that, Kara."

The two then separate as Lena walked out the medbay. Kara stood in place for a few moments as she watched her best friend walk out that door. She felt weird at the moment. Butterflies in her stomach and all. The pain of Mon-El's departure still weighed on her heart. But for the first time in a while, that pain was starting to lessen.

And Kara smiled.

* * *

**One Week Later**

High above National City, Aya stood there floating with her usual blank robot face as she waited for her student to arrive. After almost an hour of waiting, Lena, now in her regular caped Green Lantern uniform, flew up to meet her mentor. She was sweating and out of breath like a student rushing to class before they're late.

"Sorry! Sorry!", Lena blurted out, "I had some obligations at court. I had to keep Deadshot alive long enough to testify against Ivo, and I had to take the stand too."

"Explanations are not needed, Ms. Luthor. I was made aware of your extracurricular obligations," Aya said.

"Thanks," Lena said nodding, "So what are we doing today? Are we finally getting around to how to master my Sentinel power? Help me try to get it out on command?"

Aya shook her head. "No. I believe it is time for you to accompany me and Green Lantern Cruz on an offworld mission. As a Green Lantern, you must protect more than just Earth."

"No offense, Aya, but I'm not looking to patrol the entire sector," Lena admitted, "I'm just not that kind of Green Lantern. I have enough responsibilities at home as it is."

"Acknowledged, but I still believe that an offworld training mission will provide you with much needed field experience," Aya countered, "Earth is becoming more and more integrated with the wider galactic community after all."

"I can't argue with that," Lena relented with a shrug, "Where are we going, boss?"

"Our destination is in-", before Aya could finish, the skies suddenly turn red. Lena looked at this chilling sight with shock as Aya analyzed the situation with her hyperadvanced robot brain and said, "Alert! A wave of antimatter is consuming Sector 2814. It will collide with and annihilate Earth in 15.52 minutes."

"What?!", Lena exclaimed, "Antimatter? How did that happen?!"

"Unknown. But regardless of the wave's origin, we must fly over and slow the antimatter wave's trajectory before it destroys any more worlds."

Lena took a deep troubled breath. This kind of crisis wasn't the kind of thing that she was expecting to deal with so early into her superhero career. But she had a duty to uphold, so Lena took a deep breath and said, "On your lead."

Aya nodded before flying out of Earth's orbit with Lena close behind her.

* * *

In the void of space near the fringes of Space Sector 2814, there was nothing. Nothing except a giant wave of white light that was currently annihilating anything that crossed its path.

Planets.

Ships.

People.

It flew forward like an unstoppable juggernaut as it continued wiping out anything that came its way, leaving behind only a white void filled with nothing except antimatter particles.

Aya and Lena Luthor floated several klicks away from the wave as it raced towards them.

Aya told Lena, "The rest of the Green Lantern Corps will be here to reinforce us shortly. Green Lantern Cruz is currently on the planet Ungara. ETA thirty minutes."

"And what the hell are we supposed to do in the meantime?", Lena asked a little daunted by the Herculean threat in front of her.

"We delay it as best we can," Aya said simply, "We use our power to hold back the wave. Every second we slow it down is a life saved."

"Yeah, but... look at it!", Lena exclaimed, "I don't think it would budge even if we use up all our power!"

"Then we resonate with our power batteries," Aya said, "I calculate that it will provide us with enough energy to hold back the wave until reinforcements arrive."

"I really hope you know what you're doing, boss," Lena said as she summoned her power battery in her hand.

"I am 72 percent sure," Aya replied summoning her own.

"72... great," Lena grumbled before she and Aya moved in.

Now standing mere feet away from the wave, Aya and Lena's power batteries flared up brightly through the green light of willpower. As they did so, the rings that batteries were paired with glowed just as brightly as the eyes of both lady Lanterns shined green and they both project a burning aura of green energy.

"In brightest day. In blackest night...", Aya spoke before firing a blast of green energy from her palm which expanded around the antimatter wave like a net.

"I shall shed my light over all evil...", Lena said as she fired an energy blast from her ring and reinforced Aya's barrier.

The antimatter wave crashed into the green barrier, slowing down its momentum for a moment, but the wave continued to press against the barrier with a force unlike either Lantern has ever seen before. While the barrier held, cracks were beginning to form as the wave threatened to break through this obstacle.

Lena and Aya gritted their teeth with effort as they mustered every ounce of willpower into this barrier.

"... no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might..."

"... for the darkness cannot stand against the light..."

The barrier was strengthened, and the cracks started to fill themselves. However, the barrier was still pounding on it with the force of the devil himself.

"Beware my power! Green Lantern's light!"

"The light of the Green Lantern!"

Lena and Aya shouted as they made one last push with what strength they have left. The barrier burned with renewed energy as it actually pushed the wave back a bit.

Lena smirked. "H-Hey... it's working!"

For about a ten seconds.

A huge chunk of the barrier then shattered due to the constant pounding of the antimatter wave like water against an overtaxed dam. The resulting hole spilt out a rushing current of antimatter energy. The antimatter raced forth and struck Aya head on. The robot screamed as her entire body was enveloped by the antimatter energy, incinerating the Green Lantern completely to the last atom.

"Aya!", Lena screamed in horror at watching her mentor die in front of her.

With Aya's demise, the barrier's strength was cut in half, allowing the wave to easily destroy the remaining barrier. The wave was now racing forward, now unhindered and in full force. To save herself, Lena summoned a smaller forcefield at the last second before the wave hit her. As the wave continued on its destructive path across the universe, Lena continued to stand within it, only protected from annihilation with her energy bubble.

But even then, this smaller barrier was started to crack. No matter how hard Lena tried, she couldn't strengthen her shield any further, and her ring's charge was running low.

Facing the imminent likelihood of her own death, Lena began to sweat and pant deeply in fear. She was going to die soon, and there was nothing she could do to save herself. Knowing that she's not long for this universe, Lena's thoughts drift to the person she loved the most.

With only seconds remaining, Lena used her ring to call Kara's phone on Earth. When the call was directed to voicemail (she was probably busy that day), Lena began to sob as she recorded her last message.

"Kara... it's me. By the time you get this... I'll be gone. I'm so sorry to leave you like this, but... I want you to know that meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me. My mother's ring might've made me into a Lantern, but it's you who inspired me to become a hero. And I don't regret every second I spent with you. I love you, Kara. And I always wi-"

Lena's shield broke and everything went white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And everyone else dies, nothing matters, and I hope you liked following this story because everything in it is now consumed by a wave of antimatter. The end. Eff you.
> 
> Haha, seriously this time. Yes, I am using the cosmic reboot provided by Crisis on Infinite Earths to give this story new life in the next volume. When we come back, this story will now take place in 2020, the (as of the time of this story's publication) modern era of the Arrowverse. Things will be different and not just due to the fact that we jumped forward to the future. In fact we have an entirely different Earth in our hands. Say goodbye to Earth-38B, and say hello to Earth-12 (AKA that Green Lantern Earth we saw on that montage of the last episode of Crisis on Infinite Earths).
> 
> While many things will change, I will try to preserve the more important plotpoints in the new Earth. While I need time to get it all together, I can confirm that I will retain Thea Queen as Green Arrow and Lena's history with her. I will also keep the fact that Prometheus supplied the info that got Ivo arrested and maintain the mystery about them (though I might need to switch Prometheus, the alias, out with some other mantle to fit my new vision). Aya and her relationship with her mother (though, Jessica might get her role significantly reduced and I might have to resolve Aya's memory problems sooner than I initially expected in this new Earth). Holly and her personal history with both the Titans and Kara (though she'll probably get a new Dove and that Christmas special might be revised to the point where Kara might get a new past love interest- Raven will probably still exist but her relationship status with Kara is up in the air for the moment). There might be more plot beats that I want to keep, but I'll save that for volume 2 as I still need to figure this out.
> 
> As for my previous AN statements, I admit I made a certain promise that I'll probably won't keep. I'm not sure if I'll put in Catra of Halfmoon in volume 2. I've come up with more ideas and a rough outline of a plot in my head. Adding Catra and her baggage will just complicate things needlessly. But hey, if I ever feel like I want to write about Catra again, I'll just go back to that story and pick up where I left off there. Or just start another story. I don't know.
> 
> Also, by the time this gets out, I would've already deleted my Avengers vs JLA story, where I sequestered Jessica into, meaning that I'm free to use her in volume 2. That story kinds scared me in how big in scope I have to write it especially in the sheer quantity of characters involved, so I dropped it. It wasn't doing well anyway.
> 
> I know that this story is a bit of a mess. A big part of that is because it was part of 2 failed shared universes, which I had to write away in revisions. Hopefully the story here is at least interesting and adequate enough storywise. I'll do better next volume, and I'll certainly try to chart out a better plot this time too. Or at least make sure Lena and Supercorp get the attention they need.
> 
> I'll be taking a break to plan all this out as well as decide what to do for my Marvel fic (I decided to only do two ongoings- this and one other Marvel fic). When volume 2 comes out, it'll probably be followed shortly by either a revised continuation of Gwen Stacy and Her Amazing Friends or replace it with another story. Until then, follow the series this story is attached to in ao3 to be first to know when volume 2 comes out.
> 
> Also, yes. The Sentinel power I gave Lena is basically the Avatar state. The best part I like about the JSA mythos is how generational it is. While a good few Golden Age heroes remained active in their old age, the children and students of other JSA members would take up their mantles and continue the legacy to the modern day. Lena's Sentinel state is my way of keeping to that spirit as well as reference the ancient history of the Starheart.
> 
> Thanks for the read, and I'll see you all next time in Earth-12!


End file.
